By Mark Vester
During a recent press dinner in the Philippines, Freddie Roach, trainer of pound-for-pound fighter Manny Pacquiao, revealed to the Cebu Sun Star that promoter Don King has been calling almost every single day in an effort to sign Pacquiao, who is in the middle of a lawsuit between promotional companies Top Rank and Golden Boy Promtions, with both companies claiming the right to promote Pacquiao.
“Yes Don King called me up 10 days in a row and offered a lot of money,” said Roach.
Roach thinks that Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions will win the lawsuit because Top Rank has no legal claims to Pacquiao, who initially signed with Golden Boy, and then signed a contract with Top Rank a few months later. Roach feels that Pacquiao will face Marco Antonio Barrera in his next fight, which should be in April on HBO pay-per-view. The lawsuit, which Roach wants to avoid, could possibly keep Pacquiao away from the ring for up to 6 months.
“That is why we don’t want the case to reach the court because it will hold Manny for at least six months to one year. In April against Barrera is the biggest money fight for him and we could not afford to gamble on that,” Roach said. “De La Hoya will definitely win the lawsuit but we don’t want that to go that far. As much as possible we wanted to settle this dispute outside the courtroom, since Top Rank has no legal claims on Manny. And Shelly (Finkel) believed so. Shelly believed that Golden Boys’ offer is the best for him."