By Rick Reeno

Trainer Freddie Roach advised BoxingScene.com that he is not getting involved in the ongoing monetary dispute between the management of WBA junior welterweight champion Amir Khan, and Khan's former strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza. Roach is still the trainer of record for Khan, but he's also close friends with Ariza.

Ariza told BoxingScene last week that members of Khan's team allegedly stole several contracts from his Las Vegas hotel room. The alleged incident took place during the week of Khan's fight with Marcos Maidana in December. Ariza is claiming owed wages from the Maidana fight.

"They broke into my hotel room and what they did was, they stole the contract that I had made with Amir. Now they don't want to pay me for the work that I did with Amir Khan. They already admitted to Freddie Roach's lawyer [Nick Kahn] that they did steal the contract," Ariza told BoxingScene.com. 

"What I don't understand, is why steal my contract with Manny and why steal my contract with Chavez Jr.? To me there are two things that you can never get rid of, being a liar and being a thief. That's what they are. They went in my room and stole legal documents. And number two, two of the documents had nothing to do with them. Who goes into somebody's room and goes through their bag and steals a folder with a contracts? Who does that?"

Shah Khan, who handles a lot of his son's business affairs, has downplayed Ariza's claim of owed wages. According to Shah, Amir does not have a contract with Ariza which directs them to pay him for his services. Shah places the obligation of Ariza's payment on Roach.

“It is nonsense to say we owe Ariza money. We have no contract with him, our deal is with Freddie Roach and Freddie pays whoever is the conditioning coach. It (Ariza's departure) was on the cards for a while. There were issues around the time of the last bout which may have been on Amir’s mind going into the fight,” Shah told his hometown paper, Bolton News.

In terms of payment, Roach sides with Ariza's side of the story. He says Ariza is an independent contractor who operates on his own and the contract of work is between Khan and Ariza. Regarding the contract issue, Roach has no idea what's going on.

"I have no idea what the problem is or I hear about contracts and non-contracts, and I have nothing to do with that. Alex has been going on his own and is being independent for the first time with Amir, and it seems like they're is some disagreement about their deal. I don't know who is doing what or what is going on. I've completely stayed out of that situation," Roach said.

"He's a good strength coach and he has good experience and he does a good job. He puts a lot of hours in and does good work. It seemed like he and Amir Khan were getting along very well."

Roach doesn't believe Ariza's departure will affect Khan's training capabilities. A new strength and conditioning coach is being hired.

"Strength coaches are good for fighters, but fighters know how to get into shape. You know, they've done it their whole life. Will he hire a new strength coach? Probably. But, will he do the same thing? There will probably be things done a little differently here and there. But at the end of the day, it's up to a fighter to get into shape for a fight," Roach said.