Miss Honduras Says She's Been Robbed And is Now Fighting Back

The former Miss Honduras is gearing up for a legal fight against the guy who just stripped her of her crown, claiming he got pissed because she chose charity work over paid gigs.

We've learned Sirey Moran just hired famed attorney Joe Tacopina, who's repped A-Rod, among many others. Tacopina tells us his client did NOTHING to warrant punishment. Her contract requires that she get permission to do events with her sash and crown, but the events in question were all for charity and she wore none of the trappings of a beauty queen.

Tacopina believes the real reason Sirey was fired was because she was spending time doing charity work for free, and the guy who runs the pageant wanted her to appear only when she got paid, so his company could get a piece of the action.

As for Tacopina's next move ... we're told he's going straight to the top ... Miss Universe. He's been in touch with pageant officials and is asking them to pressure the honchos over at Miss Honduras to reinstate Sirey.

Failing that, Tacopina's ready to take legal action, possibly in Honduras. He feels the case is "a slam dunk."

Sirey's end game is Miss Universe, because that's a true world stage, and she feels she's been robbed of the chance of a lifetime.