As expected, Manny Pacquiao is planning to run for president in his native Philippines in the 2022 election. According to Pacquiao, his fighting career has come to an end, though his advisors have stated that no final decision on Pacquiao’s in-ring career has been reached.
Pacquiao has already had an accomplished political career, earning a seat in the Filipino House of Representatives in 2010 and also winning re-election to the position in the following elections. In 2016 he won a spot in the Filipino Senate. Much of Pacquiao’s time as a senator was spent aligned with the regime of controversial president Rodrigo Duterte until a falling out between the two parties this past summer that included Duterte threatening to campaign against Pacquiao in 2022.
After announcing his intention to run for president as had been speculated for years, Pacquiao appeared to make the end of his boxing career clear.
“It’s done because I’ve been in boxing for a long time and my family says that it is enough,” Pacquiao said during an interview on Sunday. “I just continued because I’m passionate about the sport.”
Pacquiao lost a decision to Yordenis Ugas in August, facing Ugas in a fight that was originally scheduled to be against Errol Spence Jr. After the fight, Pacquiao seemed uncertain about his boxing future.
After his announcement, the head of Pacquiao’s promotional company, Sean Gibbons, told ESPN that Pacquiao’s boxing future was still up in the air.
“In the coming weeks, the senator will decide how he’s going to finish his professional boxing career,” Gibbons said. “After the fight and recently, he’s discussed retiring [or] maybe one more. 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.”
