IT WAS a scene straight out of a gangster
movie: A suitcase full of cash was opened in the confines of a
room in a steakhouse and a deal was forged one September
evening last year in Los Angeles.
The suitcase was brought into the room by
Oscar De La Hoya and the chief executive of his Golden Boy
Promotions and the money was shown to Manny Pacquiao, who was
in Los Angeles to train for the last part of his trilogy with
Mexican Erik Morales in November.
Impressed with what he saw, Pacquiao signed
on the dotted line of a contract also brought by De La Hoya.
That was how trainer Freddie Roach
described the scene that transpired on the evening of Sept.
19, 2006, the night Pacquiao signed a contract with De La
Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions at a Beverly Hills steakhouse.
The deal, and the cash transfer, was
reported Wednesday by the Las Vegas Review-Journal based on
the deposition Roach gave last Feb. 13 as part of civil
lawsuits between Golden Boy and rival promoter Bob Arum’s Top
Rank Inc. The story was also carried by the Los Angeles Times.
"Manny told me he wanted a signing bonus,
and I relayed that to Golden Boy," Roach said in his
deposition. "They negotiated a deal and they gave him the
signing bonus, and some of it was in cash in a suitcase."
Roach, the 2006 Trainer of the Year of the
Boxing Writes Association of America, is a central figure in
the legal battle between Golden Boy and Top Rank, which
believes the popular trainer attempted to steer Pacquiao to
Golden Boy.
Roach has a close relationship with the
power-punching Pacquiao, whom he has trained for nearly six
years, including the Filipino’s three fights with Morales.
Golden Boy announced in September it had
signed Pacquiao to a lucrative promotional deal. But Top Rank,
which promoted Pacquiao’s Nov. 18 match with Morales, insisted
Pacquiao was not free to sign with Golden Boy, and litigation
followed.
Responding to intense questioning by Top
Rank attorney Daniel Petrocelli, Roach denied trying to steer
Pacquiao to Golden Boy but said he gave advice to Pacquiao.
In his deposition, Roach said that when
Pacquiao arrived in Los Angeles after a more than 15-hour
flight from the Philippines, De La Hoya was there to meet him,
complete with limousine, at the Los Angeles International
Airport.
Roach said he facilitated the meeting
between the two at the request of one of Pacquiao’s managers.
Roach said when Pacquiao got into the limo,
De La Hoya produced a promotional contract, then showed
Pacquiao a suitcase containing cash.
"I was told later on that it was $250,000
in cash, but I never counted it," Roach said in his
deposition.
Roach was hired by De La Hoya last month to
train him for his May 5 super welterweight title fight against
Floyd Mayweather Jr. After a De La Hoya-Mayweather news
conference at the MGM Grand on Tuesday, Roach stood by his
story.
He said despite his position with De La
Hoya, he believes it is important to tell the truth.
"I never saw the suitcase open, but (De La
Hoya) told me it was Manny’s signing bonus, and I later heard
it was $250,000, but I’m not sure of the amount," said Roach,
who described the bag as a small suitcase.
De La Hoya denied giving a suitcase full of
money to Pacquiao, but didn’t deny it occurred.
"I’m sure somebody had a suitcase, but I
didn’t have a suitcase," De La Hoya said. "Pacquiao questions,
I’m not going to answer. It’s obviously in litigation, and
it’s up to my lawyers to answer that."
Roach said Pacquiao told him he had wanted a $1 million
signing bonus from Golden Boy. Roach testified that when
Pacquiao told him he was being offered a $500,000 bonus, he
told the fighter it was a good deal.
