Has Manny Pacquiao fought his last fight in US?

MANILA: Hefty tax impositions may steer Filipino boxing legend Manny Pacquiao away from any ring in the United States, according to boxing promoter Bob Arum.
 
In an interview with ‘Los Angeles Times’ (LAT), Arum, the Top Rank honcho, said that unlike in the US, Pacquiao will never have to pay a tax rate of 40 per cent for his match against American Brandon Rios in Macau, China on November 23.
 
“By fighting outside the country, as he’s doing in this Rios fight, Manny doesn’t have to pay US taxes anymore - at a rate of 40 percent for a foreign athlete,” Arum told LAT’s Lance Pugmire.
 
Arum added that for the Macau fight, he was able to strike a deal that would allow Chinese consumers to view the Pacquiao-Rios match on their smartphones, and earn for the organisers between $10 million and $20 million in sales.
 
“Will it work?” Arum said. “We’ll see in November.”
 
He added, “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 US.”
 
Last month, Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach said that the world’s first eight-division champion should hang up his gloves if he lost for the third time. He issued the statement following the announcement of a Pacquiao-Rios match at welterweight.
 
“If he loses, I will tell him to retire, Roach told ESPN.com. “If you lose three in a row it’s your time. He’s up there in age. I’ve got to keep a close eye on him. It’s part of my job to protect him. I will do the right thing.”
 
The 34-year-old Pacquiao, a congressman in the southern Philippine province of Sarangani, has said that he trusted the ring judgement of Roach, a five-time Trainer of the Year awardee.
 
But Roach has said he believed that Pacquiao still had a fight left in him despite his loss to Mexican rival Juan Manuel Marquez last December 8.
 
Pacquiao lost to the undefeated American boxer Timothy Bradley in June 2012, his first defeat since 2005.
 
Pacquiao holds a record of 54 wins, five losses and two draws with 38 knockouts, as against a 31-1-1 record with 23 KOs by Rios, whom Roach described as a power hitter, too.
 

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