For a guy with this much money trouble, Manny Pacquiao may want to reconsider donating his Floyd Mayweather purse to charity.
I have a feeling Pacquiao will need every bit of that $100+ million he’s getting from the Mayweather fight. SI’s Chris Mannix details Manny’s past gambling habits in the recent edition of Sports Illustrated.
Pacquiao would gamble on anything.
In 2011, [close friend Buboy Fernandez] saw Pacquiao at a crossroads. Years of infidelity had put his marriage in jeopardy; years of free spending and hard gambling had put his financial future at risk, too. Everyone in Pacquiao’s camp has a gambling story. Manny’s younger brother Bobby recalls regular weekend trips to Southern California casinos, where Pacquiao would routinely drop $100,000 at the poker tables. Bob Arum, Pacquiao’s promoter, recounts the phone calls from casinos in Australia and Macao, asking him to cover Pacquiao’s markers. Roach recalls being at cockfights with Pacquiao in the Philippines, where Pacquiao would flash 5–0 with his hands, indicating a $50,000 bet. At the subject of cockfighting—which is legal in the Philippines—Buboy shakes his head. Once, he says, Pacquiao bet 16 million pesos on a cockfight, or around $360,000.
Gambling’s not a problem if you can afford, but Pacquiao’s penchant for constantly owing Bob Arum, speaks to him not being able to afford such a habit.
