5 Things You Didn’t Know: Manny Pacquiao

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3- Manny Pacquiao owns a lottery outlet

Manny Pacquiao owns a lottery outlet for the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, but this isn’t just a regular lottery outlet. The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office is actually the charity arm of the government, which means that a lot of money that is made from the lottery is put to good use.

The money is often reinvested back into public services, such as health care and welfare, and it wouldn’t be as successful without Manny Pacquiao’s name attached to it.

This is just one of the many ways he gives back to his country via charity, as he has also established the Official Manny Pacquiao Foundation to support underprivileged individuals in the Philippines.



2- When Manny Pacquiao fights, the crime rate goes down

Wondering how popular Manny Pacquiao is? When he fights, the entire country watches — literally.

The police in Manila say that crimes drop drastically during Manny Pacquiao’s fights, which means that even criminals stop their dirty work to watch.

There are also regular squabbles between communist insurgents and Muslim secessionists, but even they put their battles on ice to watch Pacquiao fight.

In simpler terms, nearly the entire country of roughly 90.5 million stops to watch the Pac-Man fight, which is simply astounding.



1- Manny Pacquiao earned less than $1 for his first fight

We’ve all heard stories about someone who goes from rags to riches, but Manny Pacquiao’s version is extreme.

Pacquiao’s family has spent a lot of time in poverty, and he did what he could to help early on in his life. Before he hit his teens, Pacquiao was selling doughnuts in the streets and he had his first fight when he was 12. After winning, Manny Pacquiao earned less than $1, which he immediately gave to his mother to buy rice.

As Manny Pacquiao gets set for his bout with Ricky Hatton, he is now the highest-paid prizefighter in the sport of boxing and he’s going to earn at least $12 million in guaranteed money. That could escalate even more based on the pay-per-view rake.

Now that’s a rags-to-riches story.

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