Manny Pacquiao May Never Fight Again In US To Avoid High Taxes

Manny Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum has blurted out that the Filipino boxing hero may never again appear in a fight in the United States. Pacquiao recently announced that he’s getting trained for a November fight in Macau, China, where he’ll confront former world lightweight champion Brandon Ríos.

According to The Los Angeles Times, a Macau gambling resort has already agreed to hold the fight on the morning of Nov. 24 local time, in order to allow the fight to be televised live in the United States during primetime on Saturday, Nov. 23 by HBO Pay-Per-View (PPV) broadcast.

ESPN hinted that the location in question will likely be the Venetian in Macau. The super-resort also has a location in Singapore, as well as on the Las Vegas, NV strip in the United States.

As a resident of the Philippines, Manny Pacquiao enjoys an substantial tax advantage by boxing outside of the US. Arum said:

“By fighting outside the country, as he’s doing in this Rios fight, Manny doesn’t have to pay U.S. taxes anymore — at a rate of 40% for a foreign athlete. If this pay-per-view and other things take off like we think they may, I can’t imagine Pacquiao will ever again fight in the U.S.”

Ríos, a 27-year-old Texas native trained by former IBF super featherweight champ Robert García, is an American citizen and will still owe the usual income tax on any revenue he earns as a result of the match.

There’s renewed buzz about a possible super-fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. Although Pacquiao reportedly once turned down $40 million to fight Mayweather, there are still hopes that if Pacquiao defeats Ríos and Mayweather beats Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in September, the two might ultimately face each other in the ring.

However, Arum refused to discuss the matter as he gets ready to fly to Macau on Sunday to promote a fight card headlined by China’s two-time Olympic gold medalist Xou Shiming, who is getting ready for his first pro match.

Arum and Mayweather’s promoter Richard Schaefer haven’t been able to reach an agreement about a possible Pacquiao vs. Mayweather bout. Arum said that he didn’t even want to discuss it.

He preferred to talk about a successful deal to allow Chinese viewers to buy the Pacquiao-Ríos match for viewing on their cell phone and other devices for around $5. He’s hoping for as much as $20 million in sales.

If it all works according to plan, you can expect to see a lot more of Manny Pacquiao on PPV from Asia.

[Manny Pacquiao vs. Joshua Clottey pre-fight photo by David Finger via Wikimedia Commons]

[Manny Pacquiao photo by s_bukley / Shutterstock.com]