14 Things About Manny Pacquiao Fans Choose To Ignore

Manny Pacquiao is the real-life version of Rocky, a man who came from nothing to eventually become one of the greatest boxers of all time holding major titles in four out of the eight weight classes in boxing. When Manny fights the entire country of the Philippines and Filipinos around the world stop and watch, crime rates in the Philippines literally decrease when the man fights and he will continue to be the country’s greatest sporting icon and will be for decades to come.

Pac-Man is a real modern-day renaissance man not only being a world champion boxer but a successful Philanthropist, Politician, actor, business owner, singer, and basketball player, Manny truly shows what hard work, dedication, and mental toughness are necessary if one wants to be successful and just how much they can pay off in the end.

But nobody becomes as successful as Pacquiao without making a few mistakes and having some skeletons in their closet and The Philippines’ greatest champion is no exception.

14 Tax Evasion

On November 26, 2013, the Philippine Bureau of Internal Revenue issued a freeze order on all of Pacquiao’s Philippine bank accounts due to his alleged failure to pay $2.2 billion in taxes for earnings he made in the United States from 2008 to 2009.

Pacquiao showed documents to the press showing the income tax for non-resident alien payment by his promoter to the BIR’s US counterpart, the IRS. The BIR had stated that taxes were due even if all taxes had been paid to the IRS.

13 His Alleged Affairs

In 2009, people started speculating that Manny was having an affair with Filipina actress  Krista Ranillo after the two were seen together often and Manny flew her to one of his matches and sleeping in a different hotel room than his wife. Manny has denied these claims, but it has also been speculated that he was having an affair with another Filipina actress Ara Mina.

12 The Jeff Horn Decision

On July 2nd 207 at 38 years of age, Manny Pacquiao faced off against Jeff Horn in Horn’s home country of Australia. The match went all twelve rounds with Horn winning with a Unanimous Decision. Many fans called this decision into question as it seemed like Pacquiao was winning most of the rounds and the fact that it was Horn’s home country was definitely brought into question.

11 He Should Retire

Almost none of Pacman’s fans want to admit this about their favorite fighter, but he is well past his prime. To be fair, past his prime Pacquiao is still amazing, but he has taken a lot of damage in his career and at 4, he is ancient in the sport of boxing. Along with all of his other commitments, it might be time to hang up the gloves.

10 He Faked His Weight When He First Started Boxing

When Manny first decided to become a professional boxer in 1995 he was 16 and only weighed about 96 pounds at stood at 4’11”. In order to make the 105-pound weight minimum to fight, he was forced to put metal weights in his shorts in order to add seven pounds by the time of weigh-ins.

9 His Injury In The Mayweather Fight

After the match people were asking for for years finally happened, most were disappointed. A decent amount of that disappointment came from the outcome with Manny losing. It was later revealed that Manny was suffering from a shoulder injury going into the match, leading some to say that the decision should have been overturned.

8 His Music Career

A lot of fans probably don’t know that Manny Pacquiao has recorded a lot of songs in his off time from boxing. All the songs are recorded in Manny’s native language of Tagalog starting in 2006 and going all the way into 2015 with such albums like Pac-Man Punch which has the same song remixed four times.

7 His Basketball Career

On April 17, 2014, Manny announced that he had intentions of joining the Philippine Basketball Association as a playing coach for Kia Picanto and was the 11th overall pick in the 2014 PBA draft. Manny’s career-high score was four points in a game and he was not resigned to the team after his three-year rookie contract expired.  In 2018, he officially retired from the PBA.

6 He Doesn’t Like Swimming

Manny hates swimming.  “I don’t, and can’t, relate to fish–rooster perhaps, but not fish,” says Manny in his autobiography.  The champion also stated that “I have very little body fat, and I don’t float too well. I swallow water, cough, and struggle most of the time I’m in the water.”

5 He Used To Drink Heavily

After he came to success in boxing, Manny really did start enjoying his spoils of war. This enjoyment involved Manny spending many nights out reportedly womanizing and drinking heavily Manny said that his binging came to an end after hearing a voice from God asking him why he strayed so far from his old path.

4 He Used To Own Many Bars

Along with his heavy drinking habit, and probably to help support it, many used the money he gained from boxing to help fund the purchase and overhead costs of many bars and even some casinos. After Manny received his message from God, he decided to sell the business’ and focus more on boxing for income.

3 His Conversion

Manny Pacquiao was, like many other Filipinos, born and raised in Catholic faith and family. Manny later in life converted to Evangelical Protestantism and having a dream where he saw a pair of angels and heard the voice of God telling him to become a more devout believer in his lord.

2 His Support For Capital Punishment

Due to his support of  Rodrigo Duterte who has been a massive supporter of vigilante justice in The Philipines, it comes as no surprise that Pacquiao shares some of these views. As a senator, Pacquiao has supported bringing back capital punishment in the Philippines.

1 He Got His Highschool Diploma in 2007

Pacquiao grew up very poor and despite being able to finish elementary school, he was forced to leave high school in order to help provide for his family and at 14 left home in order to help his mother cover the cost of six children. In 2007, Manny completed a high school equivalency exam and received his Highschool diploma and then went to college for a bachelor’s in business management.