Manny Pacquiao faces lawsuit saying he veered from Mikey Garcia for Errol Spence

Powerful combat sports manager Audie Attar has filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit against eight-division boxing champion Manny Pacquiao, seeking to recoup a $3.3 million advance and requesting an injunction to stop Pacquiao’s scheduled Aug. 21 welterweight title fight against Errol Spence Jr.

Attar, whose Southern California-based agency Paradigm Sports manages UFC superstar Conor McGregor, claims in the lawsuit filed in Orange County, Calif., that he was negotiating for Pacquiao to meet four-division champion Mikey Garcia.

The lawsuit, a copy of which obtained by The Athletic, also claims competing Pacquiao associates, including the fighter’s longtime advisor Sean Gibbons and friend Winchell Campos, veered Pacquiao back to powerful boxing manager Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions and he signed to fight unbeaten WBC/IBF champion Spence in a pay-per-view bout to take place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

In the lawsuit, Paradigm attorney Judd Burstein wrote, “In addition to the millions of dollars in straightforward economic loss that Paradigm stands to suffer, the damage to its reputation resulting from Pacquiao’s breaches is incalculable. Just when Paradigm was at the cusp of establishing itself as a major player in professional boxing, Pacquiao has left its reputation as a boxing representative in tatters.”

With Pacquiao, 42, in training for Spence, Gibbons did not immediately respond to messages left him by The Athletic on Saturday.

“The complaint filed by Paradigm Sports in California state court on Friday is a frivolous effort to interfere with Manny Pacquiao’s upcoming mega fight, and it can and will fail for numerous reasons,” Pacquiao’s attorney Dale Kinsella said in a statement. “Moreover, had Manny Pacquiao known that Paradigm Sports appears to have had no intention of fulfilling its contractual obligations, he never would have entered into any relationship with them. Should this matter actually proceed beyond Friday’s filing in a court of law, Mr. Pacquiao will vigorously defend this action, assert his own claims against Paradigm Sports, and seek to recover his attorney’s fees as well.”

The lawsuit alleges Pacquiao was never in obligation to fight again for PBC unless the opponent was Floyd Mayweather Jr., who defeated Pacquiao by unanimous decision in 2015 ― a bout that stands as the richest one-day sporting event in history.

Pacquiao and Paradigm partnered in February 2020, according to the claim, and originally pursued a four-fight deal with DAZN that would start with a bout against Garcia as part of a two-fight appearance in Saudi Arabia.

Claiming Gibbons and others interfered with and compromised that deal, Attar plotted to stage a Pacquiao versus McGregor boxing match this year, but those plans were undone by McGregor’s UFC loss to Dustin Poirier ― moving the Irishman to a trilogy fight with Poirier on July 10.

Gibbons, meanwhile, was pushing for a Pacquiao versus Ryan Garcia match that unraveled.

Ultimately, Pacquiao announced in May that he was fighting Spence. The lawsuit alleges that the announcement came just hours after Paradigm believed Pacquiao would sign to fight Mikey Garcia, resulting in Garcia ending his brief union with Paradigm, as well.

“Pacquiao’s breaches of the agreement therefore entitle Paradigm to monetary damages (and) costs associated with this proceeding, including but not limited to attorneys’ fees and … injunctive relief,” Burstein wrote.