Money the root of evils

The sad reality is Manny Pacquiao has become a magnet for leeches and roaches trying to squeeze their way into his bank account. That’s par for the course in the sleazy world of boxing.

Now that Pacquiao has established himself as an international marquee attraction, he can expect more and more carpetbaggers to knock on his door, looking for a chance to get a piece of the action.

When Pacquiao’s venerable trainer Freddie Roach came out strongly in a boxing website to denounce the uncrowned world featherweight champion’s US promoter Murad Muhammad, I wasn’t surprised. Roach claimed he’s been shortchanged in Pacquiao’s fights.

"If we could get an accountant ... to look at all of Manny’s fights with Murad, you’ll find a lot of money missing," said Roach, quoted by Greg Leon in the boxingtalk.net website. Roach reportedly called Murad a thief in a separate interview.

Pacquiao’s business manager Rod Nazario said there was never a problem in dealing with Roach until after the Marco Antonio Barrera fight when lawyers Keith Davidson and Nicholas Khan surfaced to tender an incredible $25 to 30 Million, six-fight, two-year deal.

Nazario said the lawyers apparently convinced Roach to ride the wave of Pacquiao’s ascension.He added that Roach and Pacquiao were blinded by the zeroes in the dollar offer.

One of the lawyers, Davidson, even flew to Manila in an effort to wrap up the talks, in effect kicking Murad out of the Pacquiao loop. Anticipating a lawsuit from Murad, Nazario told Davidson to cover legal expenses in the event of counterstrike as a result of the hostile takeover.

As it turned out, none of Nazario’s conditions were noted in the contract draft sent by Davidson and Khan. The glaring stipulation was Khan and Roach would co-manage Pacquiao for 20 percent of the gross. Obviously, there was a communications breakdown.

Nazario, however, isn’t about to pull the plug on Roach who’s widely known as the architect of Pacquiao’s transformation into a top-class fighter. His son Roberto has talked to Roach and tried to calm him down. Now, the word from Los Angeles is Roach is willing to talk things out with Murad and Nazario. And no, he’s not quitting as trainer–at least, not yet.

Then there was an offer from a concert promoter Louie Pearlman, labeled as a "scam artist" by the New York State Consumer Protection Board recently. Pearlman has never staged a boxing event but conjured visions of a dream extravaganza featuring Laila Ali and Jacqui Frazier-Lyde in the undercard. The plan was to fly in Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier to work the corners of their daughters–never mind if the Loquacious One can hardly walk straight because of his Parkinson’s syndrome.

Lawyer Rudy Salud was approached by a Pearlman representative to act as the broker for a Pacquiao-Barrera rematch. Salud agreed to help in the negotiations for strictly nationalistic reasons. He thought such a show could boost the country’s sagging international image and buoy up the spirits of the Filipino people eager to witness Pacquiao in action on home soil. But when Pearlman’s group kept on postponing the delivery of the earnest money, it became clear something was amiss. Salud eventually broke off negotiations.

Promoters aren’t the only blood-suckers out to prey on Pacquiao. Politicians are making a beeline to convince Pacquiao to endorse their candidacies for the May elections. Movie producers are also dangling juicy contracts to exploit Pacquiao’s popularity.

For a 25-year-old fighter, the frenzy could be overwhelming. He’s being tugged at from all directions, swamped by blinding offers from honorable and not-so-honorable people.

Nazario said Pacquiao cleared at least P14 Million in the Barrera fight. That’s a lot of moolah for a farmer’s son who couldn’t afford a plane ticket and rode a slow boat to find his fortune in Manila in 1995. He’s due to earn his first $1 Million payday–a first for a Filipino prizefighter.

Pacquiao can’t afford to throw away his money on a lavish lifestyle, foolish gambling sprees, and hangers-on. He’s got to know how to preserve what he painstakingly earned in the ring. The worst that could happen is when Pacquiao finally retires, his bank account won’t amount to much.

Of course, Pacquiao’s entitled to some luxury spending. He bought himself a red Ford Expedition from his Barrera purse. But Pacquiao isn’t about to kiss his money goodbye on cars and soft assets. He’s too smart for that. The word is he’s invested his money wisely–on real estate, primarily.

Someone whispered that Pacquiao has already been swindled out of a tidy sum. If Roach is to be believed, Murad tops the list of the con artists. An insider said Pacquiao has been bilked of a huge amount by a pyramid schemer and a relative once linked to the movie business.

There will be more conscienceless swindlers trying to sweet-talk Pacquiao into investing his money into some purportedly high-yielding venture. Money is the root of all evils and poor Manny is the prime target of lechers who can’t keep away from the smell of success. Manny is in for more tough fights–in and out of the ring.