Algieri faces $1-M suit

MACAU – It’s not certain how much Chris Algieri will exactly take home as his purse for battling WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao at the Cotai Arena here last Sunday but 16 percent of the paycheck is being claimed by his disgruntled former manager Humberto Romero in a $1 Million suit for damages, lawyers fees and unpaid compensation.

Algieri’s promoter Joe DeGuardia confirmed the suit was filed last June and is ongoing. Romero signed up to manage Algieri in April 2010 and the contract expired in February last year. Algieri logged only six fights during their arrangement and sat out 18 months due to injuries that required surgery. Romero said the inactivity should have automatically extended their contract up to October this year as fair compensation for his “sweat equity.” But Algieri terminated the deal and is now managing himself with assistance from lawyer Eric Melzer, Kevin Rooney Jr. and DeGuardia.

Top Rank chairman Bob Arum recently said Algieri’s purse for the Pacquiao fight was $2.75 Million. Another source put it at $1.675 Million. What is sure is the prize was at least $1 Million, the biggest payday in Algieri’s career. In three fights, Algieri’s purse soared from $15,000 to fight Emanuel Taylor to $100,000 to face Ruslan Provodnikov and at least $1 Million to take a bad beating from Pacquiao.

Romero, through lawyer Gregg Pinto, has sued Algieri for breach of contract and is claiming $350,000 for legal fees and $500,000 for lost income. Factoring in Algieri’s purse for the Pacquiao fight will increase Romero’s demand to over $1 Million.

Before last Sunday’s fight, DeGuardia entertained no notion of Algieri losing. He said there was a rematch clause in the contract with Top Rank. “What’s next for Algieri?” he mused right after last Saturday’s morning weigh-in. “A rematch with Manny, that’s what’s next because he’ll beat Manny on Sunday. (Floyd) Mayweather will wait his turn.” DeGuardia exuded confidence in talking with WBO president Francisco (Paco) Valcarcel who supervised the Pacquiao-Algieri bout.  He told Valcarcel there won’t be a Pacquiao showdown with Mayweather because a rematch with Algieri is a sure thing. The Top Rank contract stipulated a return bout if Algieri beats Pacquiao.

DeGuardia said he never boxed as a pro but was a Golden Gloves welterweight champion in 1988. He went to law school and in 1992, started his promotions outfit Star Boxing. In 1995, DeGuardia promoted the IBF welterweight title fight where Felix Trinidad stopped Larry Barnes at Atlantic City. Among the fighters he has managed are Antonio Tarver, Demetrius Andrade and Aaron Davis. He said Algieri is one of his outstanding fighters in and out of the ring.

Aside from his boxing skills, DeGuardia said Algieri has a wholesome personality. Algieri and older brother Mike, a detective with the New York Police Department, are the only children of Dominick and Adriana Algieri. Dominick is a New Yorker of Italian descent while Adriana is from Argentina. Algieri lives in the basement of his parents’ six-storey home built in New York in 1976 and drives a 2001 Honda Civic with a log of 200,000 miles.

DeGuardia was involved in a major car accident on the Long Island freeway in 2012 and nearly killed. The driver of a vehicle that went haywire and collided with DeGuardia’s car died. Surviving that close call has made DeGuardia appreciate life more. “Certainly, I look at things a little different,” he said quoted by George Willis in The New York Post. “I appreciate a lot more in life, from people, places to things. Getting up and seeing that sun in the morning is always a good thing.”

DeGuardia brought Algieri along slowly as a pro because he had no amateur background only a history as a kickboxing champion. The quality of opposition was dubious until he requested DeGuardia to book a fight against Taylor who had a 17-1 record. Algieri outpointed Taylor and the win led to a crack at the WBO lightwelterweight crown held by Ruslan Provodnikov. Algieri dethroned the Russian via a split 12-round verdict in New York last June.

“It’s almost like making a fire,” said DeGuardia, explaining how he develops a fighter into a contender. “You have to be careful not to mother it and you have to give it breathing room. It’s a process.” Algieri, 30, said it’s not a prerequisite to be poor for a fighter to excel. “You don’t have to have a tough upbringing to be tough,” he said quoted by Tom Pedulla in the New York Times. “I think that was a big question people had about me, coming from Long Island and being educated. But my drive comes from my passion for the sport and for competition. I like to compete and win.”