Solar eclipses ABS-CBN

MANILA, Philippines – As quick as his punches, Manny Pacquiao made another abrupt turnaround by hooking up anew with Solar Sports.

Pacquiao announced Saturday that he was honoring his previous deal with Solar Sports to air his May 2 fight against Ricky Hatton on GMA-7 after “carefully studying” and finding that his contract proved to be “valid and binding.”

“[The] parties have favorably resolved their unfortunate misunderstanding,” Solar Sports said in a released statement. “Manny and MP Promotions have agreed to honor the television rights agreement and fully comply with the terms and conditions therein.”

The world’s pound-for-pound king apologized, through a statement read by his lawyer Franklin Gacal on GMA-7 last night, for announcing that he was ditching Solar Sports in favor of ABS-CBN.

The ABS-CBN source, a network official privy to Pacquiao’s decision to switch channels, could not be reached for comment.

GMA-7 doesn’t own the exclusive right to broadcast Pacquiao’s fights, but signed into blocktime agreements with Solar Sports to host those fights on its channel.

“Taos puso akong humihingi ng paumanhin kung kayo man ay naguluhan kung saan ipapalabas ang aking darating na laban kay (I’m sincerely apologizing for the confusion on which network will air my fight against) Ricky Hatton,” said Pacquiao.

“Ito po ay resulta lang ng hindi pagkakaintindihan sa pagitan ng (This was just a result of a misunderstanding between) Solar Entertainment Corporation and MP Promotions.”

The statement came following a meeting reportedly initiated by Pacquiao with Solar Sports president Wilson Tieng and chief operating officer Peter Chan Liong in Los Angeles yesterday.

Last Wednesday, the world’s pound-for-pound king made a surprise announcement on national television that he had signed up with ABS-CBN to telecast his upcoming fights.

The move set the stage for a looming court clash worth about P150 million as Solar Sports stressed that the Filipino ring icon had granted Solar “exclusive rights to the audio-visual presentation of all bouts” from May 7, 2007 to May 6, 2011.

Pacquiao also has two shows with GMA-7 and has an existing contract with the station that barred him from appearing in shows or programs affiliated with ABS-CBN.

“In general, I think when he signed the letter [to rescind his contract with Solar], he did not have his advisers around him,” said Jude Turcuato, Solar Sports vice president for sales and marketing.

This time, in the presence of Gacal, Pacquiao signed another contract of his recent pronouncement following the meeting, which reportedly ended at 1 a.m. at Pacquiao’s apartment in Los Angeles

“Accordingly, MP Promotions and Manny Pacquiao have withdrawn in writing their rescission letter dated March 17th, 2009,” the Solar press statement said.

Gacal stated: “[Nais] iparating [ni Pacquiao] sa lahat na matapos ang masusing pag-aaral at pagtimbang-timbang namin ng (Manny Pacquiao would like to inform everyone that after carefully studying and weighing things with) Solar Entertainment Corporation, napatunayan na ang kontrata tungkol sa TV rights ng aking mga laban ay valid and binding at hindi nalabag ninuman (it was proven that the contract regarding his TV rights is valid and binding and wasn’t breached by anyone).”

Pacquiao’s decision to dump Solar Sports was reportedly due to its late payment in fees, which sources said amounted to P60 million per fight.

Solar Sports denied the allegations and even claimed that the Filipino ring icon actually demanded for advance payments.

“We hope that we can put all of this behind us,” the Solar release said.

Source: inquirer.net