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Pacquiao Accepts Presidential Nomination; His Boxing Career Is Likely Over
Andy Bernard, a character on the NBC comedy ‘The Office’ once said, “I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good old days before you’ve actually left them.” For boxing fans, it seems that time is now. With news that boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao has accepted his party’s presidential nomination, all signs point to the Filipino hanging up his gloves and calling it quits on an illustrious career.
Pacquiao, 42, accepted the nomination for President of the Philippines from the PDP-Laban party at their national convention on Sunday, and left no doubt as to what type of leader he aims to be. “I am a fighter, and I will always be a fighter inside and outside the ring,” he said. “I am accepting your nomination as candidate for president of the Republic of the Philippines. We need government to serve our people with integrity, compassion, and transparency.” During an interview on Sunday with Toni Gonzaga, Pacquiao seemed to leave no doubt that his pugilistic career was indeed over.
“[My] boxing career is already over. It’s done because I’ve been in boxing for a long time and my family says that it is enough,” he said. “I just continued because I’m passionate about the sport.”
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The future hall of farmer had hinted at retirement after his last fight, a unanimous decision loss to Cuban welterweight Yordenis Ugas.
“I have come to this point in my career by the grace of God. It is he who gave me the strength to fight,” he wrote in an Instagram post dated August 25. “I can look back and honestly say that I gave my best. My family and you, the fans, have been with me all the way. I will not focus on the defeat, but instead count my blessings. God bless everyone!” If this is indeed the end for Pacquiao, he will undoubtedly go down as one of the best fighters of
all time.
While his professional record of 62 wins, eight losses, and two draws might not seem all that impressive, one needs to look a little bit deeper to truly appreciate the greatness of the one they call Pac-Man.
With a career that began in 1995, Pacquiao has been fighting professionally for well over two decades. He has won 12 major world titles in eight divisions, the only fighter in history to
accomplish the feat. He has also won the lineal championship (essentially, beating the man who beat the man) in five different weight classes, also a record.
When he beat Keith Thurman in 2019 to win the WBA “super” welterweight championship, he became the oldest (40) welterweight champion of all time. “I wish I had a little more output to go toe to toe,” Thurman said after their fight in 2019. “My
conditioning, my output was just behind Manny Pacquiao’s tonight. Tonight was a blessing and a lesson.”
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In addition to beating Thurman, Pac-Man’s list of victims includes a who’s who of boxing royalty, including victories over Shane Mosley, Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, and Oscar De La Hoya, the latter of whom retired after after losing to Pacquiao in 2008.
“The one thing people don’t realize is that when he’s on his toes and he throws punches, people can’t see them because they’re coming at different angles,” De La Hoya told Boxing Insider
recently. “You expect for him to stop, but he doesn’t stop. He’ll throw a three-punch combination, but then he keeps going.”
In 2015, Pacquiao fought Floyd Mayweather Jr., in what would go on to become the highest- grossing fight of all time. Although Pacquiao lost, the fight nonetheless generated 4.6 million pay per view buys, and a purse of $150 million for the Filipino, both career highs. Overall, Pacquiao’s fights have generated 20.4 million pay per view buys, and $1.29 billion in revenue, according to Forbes.
While the boxer himself has said he’s retired, Sean Gibbons, president of Pacquiao’s promotional company, insists that nothing is official.
“In the coming weeks, the senator (Pacquiao) will decide how he’s going to finish his professional boxing career,” Gibbons said. “Until you see it officially come out on his Twitter or Instagram, he isn’t retired. Once you see it on a platform like that, its official. Anything else is just talk about what his thoughts are in the moment. It’s coming from him, but it’s hearsay.”
Only time will tell.
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