The union between a fighter and trainer can be seen as like a marriage.
It’s an intimate arrangement; the two parties negotiate the waves together, rely on each other, love each, even. Then life can intrude. Familiarity can breed, if not contempt, then indifference. So often, money is an intruder which shows up to muddy the mix. We know about 50 percent of marriages end in divorce, and a great percent of those cases see the parties squabbling nastily about money. That looks to be where we are with the pairing of Errol Spence and his trainer (ex-trainer, for now and maybe forever more), Derrick James.
Word dropped wide on Thursday, the news that Spence and James, who’ve been a team inside the pro ranks for 11 years, are at odds. The 52-year-old James is alleging that Spence short-changed him, defrauded him, when it came time to pay his trainer for services rendered. This stage of the Spence-James story took a turn when James resorted to legal help to try and recover what he feels he is owed. Boiled down, James says they agreed verbally that DJ would get a 10% cut of purses.
Disastrously for all but the attorneys who are getting big fees, there was no contract put to paper. So, James is hoping that a verbal contract will be adhered to. Some of the material in the complaint filed in Dallas County, where this divorce drama is set, is interesting to hardcore fight fans. So you know, I messaged trainer James on Thursday, when news first dropped, asking him to verify and if him and Spence were done done done. He said his attorney suggested he not speak to the media.
The 34-year-old Spence hasn’t yet responded publicly, although he has his own claim in the system. From his vantage point, he says he’s adhered to their verbal agreement about a 10% trainer cut.
It Always Comes Down To The Almighty Dollar
If you dig into the James complaint, you might find yourself grinning here and there. The counsel slipped in some humor, such as,” Mr. Spence, who once known as “The Truth.” Also, there is wording in there which suggests to me that this union is kaput. James asserts that Spence engaged in “fraudulent business practices.” Specifically, James wants redress for the accounting of the July 2023 clash between Terence Crawford and “The Truth.”
James says Errol made $25M from that fight, no PPV “upside,” all guaranteed money. Do the math; that would be $2.5M for the trainer cut. Except, James says, Errol paid DJ just $350,000. Why? Because, James says, “someone named Al told Errol that $350,000 was “generous.” Hardcores know just one “Al,” and no, it’s not Capone or Albert; it’s Haymon, Al Haymon. One would think, anyway, unless there is another advisor who has Spences’ ear named Al.
(NOTE: I messaged Derrick James my thoughts: that if indeed this Al counseled Errol to blow off their verbal agreement, then that’s sh*tty)
Society has increasingly tilted toward seeing that type of machination as savage/smart business practice, whereas old school values people would think it’s sleazy and weak. James didn’t reply, letting the court filing speak for him.
We’ve Seen This Story Before In Boxing
No, this is no laughing matter. It’s a squabble over money, on surface. There is sadness attached, though, if you liked the construct that James and Spence had formed. Hardcores know full well, though, that this sort of “breakup” happens again and again and again.
Typically, fractures like this one occur when a fighter gets to a higher plateau. He or she used to make thousands, and 10% of thousands isn’t enough to fight over. But ten percent of $1M, or $10M or $25 is enough to fight over, if it’s money that matters to you, over anything else.
Examples include:
The dis-uniting of GGG and Abel Sanchez. Same type of thing, when the GGG purses started getting fatter, ten percent became a sticking point for the fighter. So, he ditched Sanchez, in 2019, after about nine years together. Marriage kaput. They’ve not reunited.
I recall back in the 2000s, Bernard Hopkins split with trainer Bouie Fischer. The trainer went to court and filed suit against Hopkins for unpaid fees. Hopkins countered by asserting that the 15% split they’d agreed to was null, because it was done under duress. To be honest, it led me to look at Hopkins askance, because it looked to me like greed won out over sentiment. Calling the Fischer 15% “extortionate” was laughable. I’ve always remembered that about Hopkins, and have wondered now and again if he thought it was worth it. I wonder the same about Spence.
From my seat, it looks like he got some bad advice from “someone named Al.” In his heart, I think he knew what he was doing was morally wrong, and he went to “someone named Al” to help nudge him over the line, to blow off a verbal contract with a man who I think loved him like a son. With advisors like that…..
My Three Cents
No real winners here but the lawyers. They will get plenty of steak dinners off this case, I bet. This story will continue to play out, in Texas, and elsewhere. Because money is the most potent corrupter in existence, and the desire to possess more, more, more of it makes people act in a selfish manner. This sort of story will also play out, next year and the year after, because our society idolizes money as a higher power.
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