By James Slater: It seems there is at least an outside chance that Pound-for-Pound king Manny Pacquiao could wind up joining fellow superstar Floyd Mayweather Junior, with a stint in prison. According to a number of reports, Pac-Man is in hot water due to Philippine tax officials filing a criminal complaint against him for failing to submit documents to investigators looking into his tax returns.
As has been reported by various news outlets, the 33-year-old all time great will now be at the mercy of prosecutors, who will decide if there is enough evidence to bring the case to court. Worse case scenario for Manny if it does go to court and he is found guilty? A two year jail sentence.
Bureau of Internal Revenue regional director Rozil Lozares says there were “discrepancies” in the fighter’s 2010 tax return; these discrepancies related to Pacquiao’s many businesses and endorsements.
So far, Pacquiao has not publicly commented on this story and calls to his office went unanswered.
We are used to the oft-controversial Floyd Mayweather Junior being in trouble, yet even the idea of Pacquiao being on the foul side of the law is not something we are used to. Pac-Man has something of a squeaky clean public image, and he is also known to be very, very generous with his money – reportedly giving so much of his money away to fans and people with their hands out that his trainer Freddie Roach said a while back how he fears his charge could wind up broke if he’s not careful.
We must now wait and see if Pacquiao’s possible tax discrepancies see him taken to court. It is not known whether or not these problems will affect the reigning WBO welterweight king’s upcoming June 9th fight against Tim Bradley. Certainly, Pacquiao could have done without this headache, trying as he is to train and focus for the big Las Vegas fight.