Tuesday, July 03, 2007 Quijano: Wanted: Judge Weinstein in Cebu
THE settlement reached between Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank over Manny Pacquiao’s contract was largely attributed to the Solomonic abilities of Judge Daniel Weinstein, the designated mediator.
Apparently, once both parties were dutifully apprised of the merits and demerits of their respective cases, they both acceded to a compromise, the details of which are reportedly confidential as part of the settlement terms.
Here in the Philippines, court-mandated mediation is also being applied and I have personally come across several cases that were settled through the mediation process. But I have observed that the perennial obstacle that holds it back in most cases, is the incapacity of most mediators to deal with legal issues since majority are non-lawyers.
This is so because more often than not, each party will always insist on his claim or defense to be legally meritorious, thus necessitating a clear-cut assessment of each claim, and for that assessment to be honestly communicated to the parties. In this aspect, non-lawyer mediators are ill-equipped, as only a person well-trained in the field of law can make that assessment.
In the Pacquiao controversy, Judge Weinstein is one such person. Now, if we can only get him to fine tune Mayor Tommy Osmeña and Governor Gwen Garcia….
WHY MARCO? Pacman-Barrera 2 is now reportedly on Oct. 6 at the Mandalay Bay and Oscar dela Hoya and Bob Arum are co-promoting the event.
I personally think Barrera right now doesn’t even deserve a shot at Manny. He lost his last fight against Juan Manuel Marquez and was quite unimpressive in his back-to-back matches with Rocky Juarez.
If meritocracy were to be observed, it is Marquez who deserves the shot and not Barrera. Nonetheless, this early the Last Round is picking Pacquiao to repeat over the Baby-Faced Assassin though not necessarily via knockout.
In the Juarez and Marquez fights, Barrera showed a patent disinclination to trade and exchange punches. So expect him to box and move around the ring unlike what he did in their first fight, to disastrous results.
JAB OF THE DAY. “A few weeks ago, when the mediation process started with the judge, Daniel Weinstein, who is really considered—not just in California—but in the nation as one of the leading mediators. When he took ownership of that case and very quickly understood the issues at hand and was able to talk to us and talk to Bob and both sides were open to his points—and there were very valid points—and he was outlining the strengths and weaknesses in the respective cases. It put a stop to the hostility and I think at that time both parties started to recognize that, ‘Hey, it ain’t that bad enough to fight. So why don’t we just see if we can settle that and move on for the betterment of everybody and put these big fights together.” –Golden Boy CEO Richard Scahefer.
DONE DEAL. Evander Holyfield beat fellow forty-something-year-old Lou Savarese last Sunday via unanimous decision. Big deal. A news item curiously reported that “The Real Deal” was trying to break George Foreman’s record of being the oldest to win a heavyweight title at age 45.
Formerly the badge of honor was in being youngest to win it. Now it’s in being the oldest? What’s the boxing world coming to?
THE LAST ROUND. It’s on power couple Dr. Gerry and Hazel Ypil who are celebrating their anniversary this month. Their union is happily blessed with smart and beautiful daughter Valerie. Cheers guys and here’s to our next steak dinner. Burp!
