MONEY matters have shattered the once-solid working relationship between Wild Card guru Freddie Roach and long-time strength coach Justin Fortune, a development that could have adverse effects on Filipino star Manny Pacquiao.
Roach told the Bulletin yesterday morning that Fortune ran away with the $ 200,000 check that was supposed to be his share from Pacquiao’s April 14 fight against Jorge Solis.
‘’I am surprised and disappointed,’’ said Roach just before capping another day at his famed sweat shop on Vine Street in Hollywood, California.
The check that was issued by Top Rank was put under Fortune’s name and Roach said it didn’t mean the former heavyweight fighter from Australia had all the right to cash it all for himself.
‘’He’s taking credit for Manny and I am upset,’’ said Roach, who called the shots when Pacquiao scored an eight-round knockout over Solis at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
Fortune might have thought that Roach was not entitled to a share since he was busy training Oscar De La Hoya in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Roach said he set the stage for Pacquiao’s training at the Wild Card before he left to join De La Hoya for two months and that he had told him that he would be in Pacquiao’s corner for the Solis bout.
‘’I told him I will split it in half. I told him it’s going to be 50-50 but he won’t return my calls,’’ said Roach, who bared that the check was worth $ 200,000, which is 10 percent (gross) of Pacquiao’s $ 2 million purse.
‘’He thinks he deserves it all,’’ said Roach, a former featherweight during the 1980s.
Roach, who began training Pacquiao in mid-2001, said Buboy Fernandez, Pacquiao’s Filipino assistant, ‘’did more work than him (Fortune).’’
Pacquiao reported for training at the Wild Card on March 19 after spending three weeks working out in General Santos City with Fernandez and another local trainer, Nonoy Neri.
‘’I took care of him (Fortune). I created a job for him,’’ said Roach. ‘’I thought he was more of a man.’’ Roach believes it will not take long for him to find a replacement.
‘’I am going to find somebody new,’’ added Roach.
Fortune is now training at the LB4LB Gym just a few blocks away from the Wild Card and maxboxing.com writer Steve Kim had it right in titling his story ‘’A few miles away, but a thousand miles apart.’’
