Boxing trainer Brendan Ingle yesterday admitted the cracks are appearing in his relationship with Prince Naseem Hamed but shot down rumours that a split with fighter is imminent.
Ingle insists he has no doubts that he will be in the corner when Hamed defends his WBO featherweight title against Ireland's Wayne McCullough in Las Vegas next month.
Sheffield-based Ingle responded to the rumours of a split by saying: "It's the first I've heard of it".
But Hamed's trainer, mentor and former manager does not deny that there have been strains in their 15-year relationship.
A new book published yesterday called The Paddy and the Prince charts Ingle's growing unease about their partnership and documents the occasions on which Ingle was on the verge of walking out.
The book includes bits of Ingle's diary, and one entry reads: "Money has become his (Hamed's) God. He is kidding everyone. All he wants to hear is. . . praise and having yes-men around him."
