The question is, who (if anyone) is stealing Roach’s money? Attempts by The Star-Ledger to reach the trainer were unsuccessful. Roach, however, has continued to point a finger at Muhammad.
During an exclusive interview with The Star-Ledger, Muhammad said he signed a $700,000 license fee with HBO for the Barrera-Pacquiao fight. HBO fight commentator Jim Lampley, during the live broadcast of the fight, revealed the figure. Muhammad said until that moment, HBO had never announced a license-fee agreement it had with a promoter.
“They would never say that Bob Arum or Main Events received $10 million. They would never say that Don King received $6 million, but for the first time, during one of the greatest upsets, they announce that the promoter — they didn’t mention my name — received $700,000,” Muhammad said. “It made it look like I took $400,000 and gave Manny $300,000.
“When I did my investigation, I found out that (HBO fight commentator) Larry Merchant spoke to Freddie Roach and Freddie Roach told him Manny was only getting $300,000. … I said to Larry ‘Why would you ask a trainer anything? All you had to do … was take two steps over to where I was sitting and I would have given you the actual figure.’ He didn’t do that.”
