By Mark Vester
One case is over and another will continue. In Los Angeles, a jury cleared Manny Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach, of assault charges. Gregorio Asuncion, a member of Pacquiao's entourage, filed a lawsuit claiming the trainer punched him twice in the Wild Card Gym on October 20, 2008. Roach only claimed that he made him leave the gym as Pacquiao began to train.
The jury deliberated for part of Thursday afternoon and Friday morning and rendered a decision in favor of Roach. He was happy for the case to be over.
"I didn't get much sleep last night, but when I heard there was a verdict after such a short time I believed it was in my favor," Roach said.
In Las Vegas, Roger Mayweather, the trainer/uncle of Floyd Mayweather Jr. was not as lucky. A judge in Las Vegas issued an order for Mayweather to stand trial on three felony charges over the assault incident with female fighter Melissa St. Vil. They had a confrontation on August 2, 2009 when Mayweather showed up at an apartment he was renting out to boxer Cornelius Lock. Mayweather used to train St. Vil and was angry that she parted ways with him.
According to the police report and St. Vil's account of incident on BoxingScene.com, he tried to remove her from the apartment by force and then a physical struggle broke out. When police arrived on the scene, Mayweather was chocking her from behind and she was coughing up blood. Mayweather has a history of getting in trouble with the law for physical incidents. The arraignment is set for January 26 in Clark County District Court.
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