Manny “Pac-Man” Pacquiao and Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios touch em’ up later this year (Nov. 23, 2013) in Macau, China. One of boxing’s biggest and brightest superstars to date has set sail from the United States of America and is not looking back, according to boxing promoter Bob Arum. The 34-year-old has traveled and fought all over the globe; however, twenty-three of his past twenty seven bouts have taken place in the U.S., and now one of the most well known fighters to date could possibly never return to the country to perform in front of fight fans in America.
Bob Arum told Los Angeles Times:
“By fighting outside the country, as he’s doing in this Rios fight, Manny doesn’t have to pay U.S. taxes anymore – at a rate of 40% for a foreign athlete. 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 U.S.”
As if Marquez’s stiff right-hand wasn’t enough to put a possible showdown between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao on the back burner for even longer, “Money” may have to travel outside the country if he ever wants to meet Manny in the ring. But who needs Pacquiao-Mayweather now that “Canelo” Alvarez is set to meet “Money” Mayweather in September?
Brandon Rios is a fighter you can’t count out, his last outing was a loss to Mike Alvarado in what was a closely contested rematch that was all kinds of fun. Rios-Alvarado II was a back-and-forth battle for the Interim WBO Light-Welterweight title. It was one of those slugfests that doesn’t bring the losers stock down one bit. In fact, both “Bam-Bam” and Mike Alvarado’s trilogy fight will probably draw more interest, now that the score is tied.
Can Rios manage to come out on top against one of boxing’s best? Boxing trainer Freddie Roach has said Manny Pacquiao only has a few fights left in him and that Brandon Rios is a dangerous fight.
