Manny Pacquiao has confirmed his retirement from boxing, hanging up his gloves for good and ending his nearly three-decade career.
“Retire na (I’m retired),” Pacquiao told The Freeman and Banat News.
The boxing champ first revealed his retirement during his interview with Toni Gonzaga on “Toni Talks” last September 20. This was minutes after he announced that he would run for president next year.
“Boxing career ko? Tapos na ’yung boxing career ko (My boxing career? It’s over).”
“Tapos na. Kasi matagal na din ako sa pagbo-boxing. ‘Yung pamilya ko laging sinasabi ‘tama na.’ Nagtuloy-tuloy lang ako kasi passionate ako sa sport na ito (It’s done. Because I’ve been in boxing for a long time. My family has always been convincing me to retire. I just continued because I’m very passionate about this sport),” Pacquiao said.
“Magsu-support na lang ako ng mga boxingero para magkaroon tayo ng champion ulit (I will just support Filipino boxers so we will have another champion),” he said.
Pacquiao’s right-hand man Sean Gibbons, the president of MP Promotions, insisted that the senator hasn’t officially retired from boxing.
Manny Pacquiao confirms retirement from boxing
“In the coming weeks, the senator will decide how he’s going to finish his professional boxing career. After the fight and recently, he’s discussed retiring [or] maybe one more [fight]. He’s just talking out loud about different situations,” Gibbons told ESPN’s, Mike Coppinger.
“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, it’s official. Anything else is just talk about what his thoughts are in the moment. It’s coming from him, but it’s hearsay,” he added.
But during PROMDI (Probinsya Muna Development Initiative) at Raddison Blu Hotel’s political gathering on Sunday night, Manny Pacquiao confirmed that he has indeed ended his boxing journey.
“Dili nako mo-away. OK pa ako Iihok pero tama na. Dugay na pud ko sa boksing (I will no longer fight. I still have the moves but it’s enough. I’ve been in boxing for a long time already),” he said.
Manny Pacquiao is the only eight-division world champion in the history of boxing and has won twelve major world titles.
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