Philippine boxing legend and 2022 presidential hopeful Manny Pacquiao said yesterday that he is hanging up his gloves after a glittering decades-long career in the ring.
The multi-division world champion and senator, who has his sights set on a high-stakes rumble to replace President Rodrigo Duterte, said quitting the sport that lifted him out of poverty was the “hardest decision” of his life.
“It is difficult for me to accept that my time for me as a boxer is over,” the 42-year-old said in a video message on Twitter that quickly went viral.
“Today I am announcing my retirement,” added Pacquiao, whose fights during his heyday stopped traffic in the Philippines - and even supposedly crime.
It comes weeks after Pacquiao, considered one of the best boxers of all time, lost what turned out to be his last professional fight, against Cuban Yordenis Ugas in Las Vegas.
Pacquiao, who entered politics in 2010 as a congressman before being elected to the Senate, said last week that he will make a tilt for the country’s highest office.
Pacquiao, a married father of five, thanked his millions of fans around the world and paid special tribute to his long-time trainer Freddie Roach who he described as “my family, a brother and a friend”.
The decision ends weeks of speculation that Pacquiao was planning to retire after 26 years as a professional boxer. He ended with a 62-8 win-loss record and two draws.
“He’s gonna go down as a legend of not just boxing but of the sporting world,” Ted Lerner, a US-born sports journalist in the Philippines, told AFP.
“In the future... his name will be sort of synonymous with greatness, in the level of Michael Jordan or people who have transcended their sport and become like mythical legends.”
In the video message, Pacquiao said boxing had given him “the chance to fight my way out of poverty” and “the courage to change more lives”.
“I will never forget what I have done and accomplished in my life. I can’t imagine I just heard the final bell,” said Pacquiao, who retired briefly in 2016 before reversing the decision.

Presidential ambitions
Pacquiao is idolised by many in the Philippines both for his punching power and rise from desperate street kid to the peak of boxing.
He dropped out of high school at 14, sold doughnuts on the roadside and became a grocery stacker to help his mother support two younger siblings.
Within a few years, the diminutive southpaw was a pro boxer destined for the big time.
News of his retirement was greeted with mixed feelings in his southern hometown of General Santos, where support for the boxer runs deep.
“I am both happy and sad,” Anna Rodriguez, 24, told AFP.
“I am happy because he will be able to spend more time with his family, but I’m also sad because he will no longer bring pride to General Santos.”
Manila taxi driver Jerry Barilea told AFP it was the right time for Pacquiao to bow out.
“He’s getting old, he really can’t do it anymore,” the 58-year-old said.
As he prepares to register as a presidential candidate, Pacquiao has vowed to tackle poverty and corruption in a bid to win over voters with his rags-to-riches story.
After two terms as a congressman and one as a senator, Pacquiao’s ambition is not unrealistic in a country famed for its celebrity-obsessed politics.
But victory is far from assured.
Fans see Pacquiao as living proof that success is possible for anyone who works hard, no matter their origins.
But Pacquiao has stirred controversy as a politician, earning him plenty of detractors.
Critics accuse the high-school dropout of lacking intellect and being a frequent no-show in the Senate, raising questions about his ability to run the country of 110 million people.
Less than a year out from the elections, Pacquiao has risked political capital in a public battle with Duterte, who rivals the boxer for the affections of many Filipinos and previously mentioned him as a possible successor.
He has also stirred controversy by backing Duterte’s deadly drug war, which rights groups say has killed tens of thousands of mostly poor men and sparked an investigation by the International Criminal Court.

De La Hoya to Marquez: 5 great Pacquiao fights

De La Hoya destroyed
Opponent: Oscar De La Hoya, December 6, 2008, Las Vegas
Pacquiao bulked up to step up to the welterweight class and utterly punished Oscar De La Hoya, the lightning-quick Filipino leaving the face of the golden boy of American boxing disfigured with ugly swelling. By the seventh round it was a one-way affair, and after one more round, De La Hoya’s corner signalled to the referee that he wanted no more of it.

Hatton humbled: Ricky Hatton, May 2, 2009, Las Vegas
The plucky Briton charged into Pacquiao from the opening bell, in the process walking into an ambush that led to two knockdowns in the first round alone of the International Boxing Organisation super lightweight title showdown. Late in the second, a Pacquiao left hook rocked Hatton’s chin and sent him straight into dreamland in what was arguably the most spectacular of the Filipino’s 39 wins ended in knockout.

Cotto cut down: Miguel Cotto, November 14, 2009, Las Vegas
Pacquiao dropped Cotto with a right hook in the third and the bigger Puerto Rican would hit the canvas again in the fourth, but was saved by the bell.
By the ninth round of the welterweight world title bout, blood spurted from Cotto’s face. The referee stopped the contest early in the 12th round to save Cotto from more punishment.

Mangled Margarito: Antonio Margarito, November 13, 2010, Arlington, Texas
The US-born Mexican towered over the Filipino but was utterly destroyed over 12 lopsided rounds in the fight for the vacant World Boxing Council super welterweight crown.  In the end, his face bruised and bloodied, Margarito was taken to hospital and later had surgery for a broken right orbital bone.

Magical Marquez:Juan Manuel Marquez, December 8, 2012, Las Vegas
The fourth and final showdown against his great Mexican rival was a brutal slugfest that ended with Pacquiao falling like a log face-first onto the canvas just before the end of the sixth round.
Knocked down in the third round, Pacquiao had come back in the fifth, breaking the Mexican’s nose and sending him to the canvas in what was probably the best round of the Filipino’s career.
But the bloodied Marquez had the last laugh with a sixth-round sucker punch to send Pacquiao to a stunning, second loss in a row.


(Manny Pacquiao carricature by Reynold/Gulf Times)

Philippine boxer Pacquiao: from street kid to superstar

Here is a timeline of key dates in Pacquiao’s life.
1978: A champion is born – Pacquiao’s rags to riches story began on the mostly poor southern island of Mindanao where he was born on December 17, 1978, to a deadbeat father and a devout Catholic mother. Pacquiao grew up in General Santos City. He dropped out of high school at 14, sold doughnuts on the roadside and became a grocery stacker to help his mother support two younger siblings.
He turned pro-boxer at 17.
1995: Enters the ring – Pacquiao, an eight-division world champion, is considered one of the best boxers of all time. He made his professional debut against fellow Filipino boxer Edmund Enting Ignacio on January 22, 1995 - and won.
A volume power puncher with lightning-fast footwork, the southpaw racked up 62 wins, eight losses and two draws in a career spanning 26 years.  He briefly retired in 2016 before returning to the ring. After a two year layoff - and at an age when most boxers have already quit the sport - Pacquiao suffered a comprehensive defeat to a younger Yordenis Ugas in Las Vegas in August. It turned out to be Pacquiao’s last professional fight. Announcing Pacquiao’s retirement on Twitter, ESPN said the boxer was “pound-for-pound, one of the greatest to ever step in the ring.”
2010: Political arena – Pacquiao began his political career in 2010, first as a congressman and then in 2016 he won a high-profile position in the Senate.
He has made no secret of his ambitions for the country’s highest office and on September 19 declared he was running for the presidency in the 2022 elections.
Analysts have questioned whether Pacquiao’s huge popularity as a boxer will translate into enough votes at the ballot box.
Critics accuse him of lacking intellect and being a frequent no-show in the Senate, raising questions about his ability to run the country of 110 million people.
A survey released Wednesday by PulseAsia Research showed Pacquiao in fourth spot among the frontrunners to succeed Duterte.
2012: Finds religion – Boxing has bought Pacquiao fame, power, influence and wealth, and with it, the vices: booze, gambling, cockfighting and romantic links to beautiful film stars that at one point nearly wrecked his marriage. But in 2012 Pacquiao, now a father of five, found religion and left his playboy lifestyle behind.
A fervent evangelical Christian, Pacquiao has publicly opposed divorce, abortion and contraceptives, and has compared gay couples to animals - a slur that cost him a sponsorship deal with sportswear giant Nike.
Religion looms large in Pacquiao’s personal and professional decisions, telling AFP in a recent interview that he relied on his faith to ward off Covid-19.
2021: Retirement After weeks of speculation, Pacquiao announced he is quitting the sport that made him one of the world’s greatest and wealthiest boxers.