According to Yahoo Sports‘ Kevin Kole, Filipino boxing great Manny Pacquiao,35, has purchased an undisclosed amount of shares in ONE Fighting Championship; Asia’s leading promotion who boast a 90% market share of the region.
“I’m pretty pumped,” said the promotion’s CEO Victor Cui. “There are a ton of reasons why I’m pretty excited about this. Obviously, Manny Pacquiao is a global sports icon and having him as a part of our organization as a shareholder and promoting One FC and promoting the sport is huge for the sport in the region. It promotes awareness and growth.
“There are a lot of common fans and common ties with MMA and boxing [in the Philippines] and MMA awareness is much stronger than it is in other parts of Asia,” Cui said. “Manny has been looking for some opportunities outside of boxing, and he and his team have kept an eye on the sport of MMA. It made a lot of sense to him.”
Pacquiao is said to be a “relatively new MMA fan”, however owns multiple gyms in the region with each one offering MMA training.
When comparing four-ounce MMA gloves to that of his regular eight-ounce boxing gloves, Cui reportedly described how a ‘devilish’ smile appeared across the face of ‘Pacman’ who stated, ‘Man, someone could get hurt with the power of my punches if I could wear these.’
