By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Is this the end of Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao’s legendary career?
After tasting defeat against Yordenis Ugas – his first since 2017 – boxing’s only eight-division world champion finally spoke regarding his future in the sport he once dominated for two decades.
“Kung tatanungin mo ako, puwede pa ako lumaban – physically, mentally, and spiritually,” Pacquiao shared to Rappler Talk last Monday.
Retirement has never crossed Pacquiao’s mind even after defeating Keith Thurman at 40 years of age but the PH senator said he is weighing his options especially that elections in the Philippines are now nearing.
“I have to consider a lot of things, especially sa pamilya ko at ‘yung tungkulin ko sa bayan. Boxing ako nang boxing eh maraming nangangailangan ng tulong. Minsan isa rin consideration ko yan, na ipaglaban ‘yung mga kababayan natin,” added Pacquiao.
As of now, everybody is still waiting for Pacquiao’s decision if he will run for the 2022 presidency where his colleagues always said he would be a capable candidate.
However, critics also hit Pacquiao especially after his performance against Ugas, saying that the Filipino is caught up with too much work and lacked focus coming into the fight.
Even his trainer and long-time best friend Buboy Fernandez said Pacquaio can still go against the boxing greats and deserves a more fitting ending to his career with one more fight.
“Minsan kaya ng isip natin at puwede pa pero pagdating sa katawan, tignan natin nang mabuti kung mag-respond ‘yung katawan mo,” Pacquiao said.
