On the back of stating Pacquiao is no longer involved with Arum in a working capacity, the Philippine Senate advisor has thrown allegations of sabotage into the mix.
As Pacquiao attempted to set-up fights in the Middle East and Asia over the past two years, Zonio says Arum did everything in his power to either keep the 38-year-old in the United States or under the sole jurisdiction of Top Rank’s promotions.
“The first one was the planned Pacquiao Dubai fight. Then the other was the fight supposed to be staged either in Macau or Hong Kong,” Zonio shockingly told philstar.com.
“In two separate occasions, Arum called up Pacquiao’s financiers. He threatened to file a lawsuit if Top Rank is not included in the promotion. They cowed in fear resulting in the scrapping of the fight.”
With a fight against Lucas Matthysse recently confirmed, Zonio also states Arum made threats not taken seriously by new financers.
“This time, Arum, for the third time, tried to sabotage the fight by calling up Pacquiao’s Malaysian financial backers. No dice, old man. We ignored him,” added Zonio.
These latest claims are certain to put a further strain on the relationship between Pacquiao and Arum, which seems to be coming to an end after many years of collaboration.
Instead, Pacquiao has turned to Golden Boy supremo Oscar De La Hoya in his bid to get back on the boxing map. Furthermore, he looks set to battle Matthysse for his WBA ‘regular’ welterweight title on June 23.
