Shelly Finkel, who heads the new management team that signed Manny Pacquiao to a two-year deal, which effectively took his career out of the hands of his countrymen, is a little difficult to fathom probably because we didn?t have an opportunity to sit down and talk to him at some length about himself and his plans for the Filipino ring gladiator.
What we did learn from a brief conversation we had with him on our arrival at the MGM Grand a few days before the fight and a much longer discussion on the eve of Pacquiao?s showdown with Morales was that he could be extremely courteous and soft-spoken on one occasion and come across with veiled threats and finger-pointing on another. It gave us the impression that if you were on his side, everything would be fine but that if you took issue with him, then you had a problem.
Not knowing Finkel, we have been forced to rely to some extent on what other respected journalists have had to say about him. One of them was Thomas Hauser, the author of 30 books, including ?Muhammad Ali: His Life And Times? and one of the most respected boxing writers in America.
?Finkel?s supporters say that he?s trustworthy, tenacious and tough. They point to his quiet personality and ability to get most jobs done. Finkel?s detractors say that he is hypocritical and shameless,? wrote Hauser.
In an article on secondsout.com, Hauser wrote: ?Some promoters spend hundreds of thousands of dollars of their own money developing fighters and then beg for television dates. Showtime gave Finkel $2,200,000 so he could sign fighters to managerial contracts and cover his expenses. It gave Finkel a series of television dates for his fighters and a $1,925,000 packaging fee. On top of that, it paid Main Events a substantial licensing fee for the fights. And it did all of this without having a formal written contract with Finkel. Isn?t that strange even for boxing??
According to Hauser, the $2 million to fund signing bonuses for managerial contracts between the fighters and Finkel was broken down as follows: Rocky Juarez ($1.4 million), Jeff Lacy ($250,000), Juan Diaz ($150,000), Francisco Bojado ($100,000), Malik Scott ($50,000) and Dominick Guinn ($50,000).
However, Hauser said: ?It now appears? that Finkel paid Lacy only $150,000, Diaz $100,000, Bojado $75,000 and Guinn $20,000. Hauser added, ?the amount of the signing bonuses to Juarez and Scott? was unclear at that time.
Finkel claimed that the numbers quoted were ?incorrect and the fighters received everything they were entitled to and that no impropriety occurred.? But, Hauser pointed out, Finkel refused to say what the correct numbers were.
Joe Hernandez, who was a partner with Alfonso Marquez (who originally trained Bojado) and Finkel each received 10 percent until September 2002 when Hernandez and Marquez received letters from an attorney stating that their contract with Bojado, which was to run up to 2006, was ?no good.?
Hernandez told Steve Kim of Max Boxing ?double-cross is the right word for Mr. Finkel. He double-crossed his partners. That was filthy, that was rotten.?
Finkel responded by claiming he was not a partner but a co-manager and that Hernandez was ?a liar.?
Ted Watley, who was brought in by Finkel to serve as a father-figure to Mike Tyson, whom he handles and was getting 50 percent of whatever Finkel made on Tyson, once accused Finkel of ripping Tyson off from Day 1 ? although Finkel flatly denied the accusations.
Listening to the two argue, an angry Tyson remarked: ?You (Finkel) are getting 50 percent of my s__t here and he?s getting 50 percent of your s__t, but I?m the jacka__ here.? We hope they don?t make a jacka__ of Pacquiao.
(Tomorrow: The mistakes of Freddie Roach)
