By CARLO ANOLIN
Manny Pacquiao has yet to make an official decision whether he will hang up his gloves for good or continue fighting in the ring following his bold statement in an interview with television personality and host Toni Gonzaga.
Sean Gibbons, president of Manny Pacquiao (MP) Promotions, clarified this to ESPN’s Mike Coppinger after the Filipino boxing legend earlier bared that his “boxing career is over.”
“In the coming weeks, the senator will decide how he’s going to finish his professional boxing career,” said Gibbons. “After the fight and recently, he’s discussed retiring [or] maybe one more [fight]. He’s just talking out loud about different situations.
“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.”
Pacquiao’s spokesperson Monico Puentevella also said the same thing.
He insisted that Pacquiao will make an official announcement next month about his boxing and political plans.
After all, Pacquiao himself said in a different interview with ESPN that he is indeed thinking about retirement after suffering defeat at the hands of Cuban boxer Yordenis Ugas, who eventually captured the super WBA welterweight belt last month.
Pacquiao, who will turn 43 in December, first got hold of the super WBA title after beating Keith Thurman in July 2019 but the major boxing sanctioning body stripped of his belt and named him “champion in recess” in January this year due to this inactivity.
After losing to Ugas, Pacquiao said he will be making an official announcement about his boxing career in October while mulling his candidacy for President of the country.
On Sunday, Sept. 19, the 42-year-old boxer-turned-senator already accepted his formal nomination for the presidential bid under the Partido ng Demokratikong Pilipino-Laban (PDP-Laban) led by Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III.
Hours later, Pacquiao appeared in an interview with Gonzaga via Youtube which already garnered around 1.65 million views at presstime.
