Eight-time division world champion Manny Pacquiao is reportedly on the brink of bankruptcy after losing most of his money to election campaigns and other expenditures, a source close to situation told the Sun Star via ABS-CBN on Wednesday.
Pacquiao, a perennial member of the Forbes' "World's Highest-Paid Athletes" list, is reportedly having financial trouble, according to a statement by the Filipino champ's confidante Wakee Salud.
Salud told Sun Star reporter Erwin Lirazan that Pacquiao shelled away a major bulk of his money to campaign funds (2010 and 2013), which reportedly amounted to roughly $9 million (as reported by ESPN writer Nigel Collins).
"He [Pacquiao] did not just lost money, he lost all of it," Salud reportedly told Lirazan in an interview.
According to Salud, Pacquiao also lost some of his money through charitable works, saying the Filipino champ just doesn't know how to refuse such causes.
Salud added that Pacquiao is more motivated than ever to fight because he finally realizes that he's now losing money ever since succumbing to Juan Manuel Marquez in the sixth round of their welterweight clash last December.
"He always ran out of money when he was still actively fighting, even more so when he stopped fighting for almost a year now," Salud told Sun Star.
Meanwhile, Pacman's chief-of-staff Haplas Fernandez shot down the report of Pacquiao's bankruptcy, insisting the boxer still controls billions worth in assets.
In an interview with Spin.ph, Fernandez said the report is completely baseless while Pacquiao's mother Dionesia claimed that his son still owned a vast amount of assets located across the country.
Pacman's chief-of-staff believes all of these hooplas are triggered by the boxer's sale of his Mediterranean-style mansion in Los Angeles.
Fernandez explained that Pacquiao is only selling the property ($2.7 million) because no one is actually living in there and property taxes are quite high to cover an unoccupied house.
Pacquiao is scheduled to return in the ring on November 23, facing former lightweight champ Brandon Rios at Venetian Macao in Macau, China.
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