Manny Pacquiao’s gambling problems from his past are no secret, but I don’t know if anyone realized just how big the problems were. Thankfully the problems seem to be no more ( at least publicly ) but his life could have gone in a different direction, even just a few short years ago.
@IamJoeSports
In a recent interview for Sports Illustrated, Pacquiao’s gambling problems are on full display and the amounts of money are outrageous.
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.
Now rememeber, the numbers you just read were for those specific times of losing money. Now take into account the fact these type of things were happening weekly or even daily and you start adding the money together and it easily gets into the millions.
Pacquiao just had a huge payday but unlike Floyd, Manny just might need every dollar of that.
