Manny Pacquiao ordered to pay $5.1 million to Paradigm Sports after losing lawsuit over breach of contract

Manny Pacquiao lost his legal battle with Paradigm Sports after a jury in Orange County, Calif. sided with the management team over a breach of contract lawsuit filed against the veteran boxer.
The jury awarded $5.1 million to Paradigm Sports as well as at least $2 million in attorney fees that have to be paid. Paradigm Sports can also collect 10 percent annual interest on the verdict amount dating back three years.
Part of the judgment was repayment of $3.3 million that Paradigm made to Pacquiao as an advance after signing him to the management firm with another $1.8 million levied against him as damages.
All told, Pacquiao will pay over $8 million after losing the lawsuit in court.
Judge Walter P. Schwarm presided over the trial, which was held in Superior Court of California in Orange County.
“We are elated to learn of the jury’s ruling in Paradigm’s favor in our suit against Manny Pacquiao,” Paradigm CEO Audie Attar said in a statement. “The jury plainly found that Pacquiao testified falsely in denying Paradigm’s claims against him, and his excuses for his conduct proves our case that a breach of contract was committed.
“We are appreciative of the court’s time and the jury’s careful attention to the facts of this case. Hopefully, Manny will have learned a lesson from the verdict and will henceforth act with the honesty and integrity that was so lacking in his treatment of Paradigm.”
The lawsuit was initially filed in June 2021 after Paradigm Sports, the same agency that represents UFC superstar Conor McGregor, alleged that the company was negotiating for Pacquiao to meet four-division boxing champion Mikey Garcia in a match after signing him as a client in Feb. 2020.
The fight fell apart after Pacquiao’s business associates, including longtime advisor Sean Gibbons and Winchell Campos, allegedly interfered and the boxer ended up working with Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions instead while signing for a fight against Errol Spence.
That led to the initial lawsuit being filed with Paradigm seeking damages while also losing Garcia as a client in the process.
Now Pacquiao is on the hook for the $5.1 million judgment along with attorney fees after losing the breach of contract lawsuit with the jury also ruling that the 44-year-old fighter acted in bad faith.