Manny Pacquiao Forced To Fight In Asia By Golden Boy, Oscar De La Hoya?

Earlier this year Manny Pacquiao sent shockwaves through boxing when he announced that, for the first time since July of 2006, he was going to be fighting outside of the United States. Over the past five years, regardless of whether you rooted for him or against him, there was no denying that the Filipino star was one of the two biggest names boxing had to offer. His decision to fight in a different country, no matter how it was sold to the public, was huge.

According to Pacquiao and his team, the move to fight overseas was based on an incremental increase in the American tax rate over the past year. Top Rank boss Bob Arum has insisted that the increase made it more lucrative for Pacquiao to fight in Asia, take an inevitable pay-per-view buys hit as a result, and then enjoy the fact that less money would be taken out of his final check. Is that accurate? It’s debatable.

What isn’t debatable, though, is that some people aren’t buying the fact that the move to Asia is tax-based. During a recent interview with Boxing Scene, Golden Boy President Oscar De La Hoya suggested that his company chased Arum and his biggest star overseas.

"Everybody is now saying Mayweather-Canelo. This is the fight. Pacquiao, his promoter has him fighting Asia....I don't know why,” De La Hoya said. “It's not that [Top Rank] wants to promote in Asia - it's because they have to....because they have nothing here in the U.S. We are the leading promoter now, no doubt about it.

“And we are going to continue bringing the fans the biggest fights possible, the biggest events - and everything else is irrelevant.”

It’s worth pointing out, De La Hoya isn’t exactly an unbiased party here. He has a vested interest in making Top Rank look bad, and insinuating that Pacquiao was run out of the U.S. along with the rest of his camp accomplishes that pretty well.

That being said, Pacquiao heading overseas after two consecutive losses opens him up to that sort of criticism. It comes with the territory. The best way to change perceptions? Beat Brandon Rios and get back on the winning track.

Source: Boxing Scene