Manny Pacquiao scored big when he trounced Roy Chiongbian in the congressional race for the lone district of Sarangani.
It was nouveau money prevailing over old money as both reportedly spent handsomely in their respective bids. But news accounts, including insider information, indicated Manny far outspent Chiongbian, whose family was largely, if not solely, responsible for the creation of the province.
Some say it was four times more what the Chiongbians spent to keep the congressional seat from slipping out of their hands.
Manny may no longer be as liquid as many think he is after the costly election although the Filipino boxing champion still managed to buy a prime lot in General Santos for a cool P60,000,000 (USD 1.3 million) weeks before he won the congressional seat.
It is also still not clear if he had already paid his accounts with a hardware store here where he issued purchase orders to the tune of millions of pesos to support his election bid. That is excluding the advances he reportedly made to Uncle Bob Arum of Top Rank.
The bigger fallout of his emphatic political victory may be his inability to take a hardline stance over purse issues if he pursues the dream megafight with Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Within his camp, a tug of war is shaping up whether Manny should agree to a 40-60 split in the purse or stick to an even split with Mayweather.
Manny is reportedly ready to accept a lesser slice of the pie, although it was not clear by how much, just to make the fight become a reality.
The seven-weight class Filipino boxing champion had already conceded to a 14-day window in blood testing to get the Mayweather fight deal going.
Upon his arrival on Monday from a vacation in the US and Mexico, Manny said he is not closing the doors for rematches against Miguel Angel Cotto and Ricky Hatton, both of whom he already knocked out.
Both Cotto and Hatton fights will not bring him the same amount of zeros in the dollars that he got when he first fought them. Those fights will also not generate as much interests and pay per view buys.
So Manny is essentially stuck with the Mayweather fight as the only marquee match up that will re-fatten his bank account.
Mayweather knows this.
The flamboyant American may have his own problems with the Internal Revenue Services and his other debts but he is in the better position to negotiate form a position of strength.
But Manny Pacquiao, according to my insider, is also reportedly facing problems with the IRS, although not of his doing. It has something to do with the accountant who previously took care of his accounts in the US.
Manny needs to fight Mayweather for a lot of cash or at least two other fights over respectable and saleable opponents to recoup the financial expenditures he incurred in his successful run for Congress.
In other words, the win took a heavy toll on his finances.
