By Ronnie Nathanielsz

THE lawyer of Britain?s Ricky Hatton has threatened to take legal action against Manny Pacquiao should the Filipino ring icon renege on a verbal agreement on a 50-50 revenue split in his planned May 2 fight in Las Vegas.

The trouble began after Pacquiao?s lawyer Franklin ?Geng? Gacal told Dyan Castillejo of ABS-CBN upon arrival in Manila on Monday morning, along with Pacquiao and his three children from Los Angeles, that they wanted a 60-40 split in favor of the Filipino champion, otherwise the fight was off.

Ricky Hatton?s father, in an overseas telephone conversation with www.insidesports.ph, Standard Today and Viva Sports, said that both sides?promoters Bob Arum of Top Rank, who handles Pacquiao and Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy Promotions, which handle Hatton?had agreed on a 50-50 split, and that if Pacquiao demanded a 60-40 share, then the fight won?t happen.

Hatton?s lawyer Gareth Williams, reacting to Gacal?s statement, insisted that both camps had agreed to a 50-50 split, while Arum himself told Standard Today after a meeting with Pacquiao?s lawyer in the US, that the Pacman was happy  with the arrangement.

In fact, Arum said he spoke to Gacal after he had made the statement and vowed that the problem would be resolved. He said Gacal was posturing in order to get a higher guarantee for Pacquiao.

But Arum appeared peeved over public statements both by Gacal and Rex ?Wakee? Salud, who was not in the negotiations, but keeps giving interviews claiming that Pacquiao deserved a 65-35 share since he was the bigger draw.

Arum has indicated if no agreement on the split as originally decided upon is reached today, the fight would be in serious jeopardy. He told Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times he couldn?t care less, which gave an indication of how upset he was.

?It?s up to him [Gacal] how he conducts his business, but the simple fact is we?ve got a verbal agreement of 50-50 and that?s as far as it goes. As far as I?m concerned, I?ve got a firm contract that the fight is taking place. As and when I?m officially told that the contract has been breached, then I will do something about it legally,? Williams told BBC Sport. 

Both Hatton?s father Ray and Williams have pointed out that they have been reasonable from Day 1.

Williams mentioned that they originally wanted the fight to be held in Britain, where it would have drawn 100,000 fight fans, but conceded to pressure from Top Rank and Golden Boy, as well as American television that the fight should be staged in Las Vegas.

They also asked for a date late in May, but eventually gave in to the May 2 date.

?The easiest thing in the world would have been to have gone along and started saying ?we?re bringing more to the table? and posturing. But we didn?t do that. We just said ?we recognize both parties bring an equal amount to the table,?? said Williams.

?Manny is a great fighter, a great draw and is recognized as the pound-for-pound no. 1 fighter and that is who Ricky wants to fight. But we also recognize that Ricky Hatton, unlike any other boxer in the world who Pacquiao could fight, will bring UK TV money, an army of British fans and so in terms of where the money will come from, Ricky Hatton is bringing the lion?s share,? he added.