A LONGWAY FROM GENSAN People flock to this Beverly Hills house and take selfies. The grand estate with the spiral staircase is the latest acquisition of boxing legend Manny Pacquiao, who snapped up the Beverly Hills mansion that used to belong to rapper Diddy back when he and Jennifer Lopez were still together. Pacquiao said he liked the property, with its semicircular pool (right photo) and “quiet location.” It has seven bedrooms aside from themaster’s suite. AQUILES Z. ZONIO/INQUIRER MINDANAO
LOS ANGELES—World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight king Manny Pacquiao has bought a 930-square-meter (10,000-square-foot) Beverly Hills mansion formerly owned by Sean John Combs, popularly known by his stage names Puff Daddy, Diddy and P. Diddy. Diddy and Jennifer Lopez were once a couple.
Diddy is an American rapper, record producer, actor and entrepreneur.
Elsa Nelson, vice president and manager of real estate firm Nelson Shelton & Associates, said three bidders had signified interest in buying the prime estate.
“The two other bidders offered a much higher price but the current owners decided to sell it to world boxing icon Manny Pacquiao,” Nelson said.
This reporter asked Nelson about the exact price of the lot but she refused to divulge it.
Various media reports put the cost of the mansion at about $12 million (P540 million).
Nick Enciso, a real estate agent here and a close friend of Pacquiao, said the boxing superstar and representative from Sarangani had already paid a certain amount as down payment.
“We have already closed the deal but I cannot divulge the exact amount,” Enciso said.
Pacquiao said the mansion was his gift to his wife, Sarangani Vice Gov. Jinkee Pacquiao, and their children. Pacquiao attributes his success to his wife.
“Behind all my success in life is my wife, Jinkee. This mansion is my gift to her and our children,” Pacquiao said.
“I wanted to surprise them. But it’s no longer a secret. Maybe they know it already. I could not hide it from the media. Reporters are following me wherever I go,” he added, laughing.
Guarded neighborhood
Pacquiao and his team dropped by the mansion after attending a church service on Sunday.
The prime estate is located at the affluent and guard-gated neighborhood known as the Summit.
The current owner, the couple Roger and Gale Dauer, told this reporter that the property was sold by Diddy to another individual before they bought it in 2011.
“We reconstructed the house and made some expansion,” Dauer said. “There were three buyers, including Manny Pacquiao. The two other buyers quoted a much higher price but we decided to sell it to him (Pacquiao) because we like him.”
An impressive spiral staircase and a massive chandelier greet guests when they enter the reception hall of the two-story estate.
The ground level features a chef’s kitchen, a state-of-the-art media room and a family room with a sports bar.
7 bedrooms
There are seven bedrooms—including a master’s suite—and seven baths upstairs.
Each room boasts of a Crestron home automation system with temperature, lighting and audio iPad control.
The total lot area of about 2,800 square meters (30,000 square feet) includes a wide cobblestone driveway, a swimming pool with a fountain and spa, several fire pits and patios.
Drug test
Ahead of their May 2 megafight, both Pacquiao and the unbeaten American Floyd Mayweather Jr. had agreed to Olympic-style testing, the US antidoping agency said over the weekend.
GMA News network in Manila said Pacquiao on Saturday already gave blood and urine samples to a medical technician that made an unannounced visit to his training area.
Pacquiao agreed to the extra doping protocol as part of the contract he signed with Mayweather.
Both Mayweather and Pacquiao must make themselves available for random blood and urine tests and provide US antidoping officials with travel itineraries. They will also be tested after the fight.
Samples will be examined for human growth hormone and other substances.
Drug testing was an issue in 2010 when talks for a Mayweather-Pacquiao showdown failed. Mayweather accused Pacquiao of using performance-enhancing drugs. Pacquiao denied the claim and sued Mayweather, a dispute the two settled out of court.–With reports from AFP and Inquirer Research
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