The People’s Champ to focus on politics
THE People’s Champ Manny Pacquiao will hang up his boxing gloves after a bout against Timothy Bradley on April 9 to focus on a career in politics.
“My April 9 fight against Timothy Bradley will be my last. I’m retiring from boxing to focus on my new job,” Pacquiao told PhilBoxing.com.
Promoter Bob Arum said the fight is a “done deal.” It will be the third time the Filipino boxer will face Bradley in the ring.
Pacquiao, currently the lone congressman of the Sarangani province, is looking to run for one of the 24 national senate seats in the May election. Because of this, Pacquiao has insisted the fight takes place no later than mid-April to give him at least one month to spend on the campaign trail, ESPN reported.
Immediate public reaction to the fight on social media was negative, as the first two bouts between the boxers weren’t particularly memorable, according to ESPN. However, Arum said he believes Bradley is a different fighter now compared to the earlier two fights, given he is training with ESPN television analyst Teddy Atlas. He also cited Bradley’s November 2015 match against Brandon Rios, in which he stopped his opponent in the ninth round.
“The Bradley that fought Rios, whatever you thought about Rios, was a different fighter. It’s still Bradley, but a new Bradley with Teddy. And at this point of his career, can Manny handle that? Remember, Manny is also coming off an injury,” Arum said, according to ESPN.
After Pacquiao’s long-awaited fight against the undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 2, 2015, he revealed he fought with an injured shoulder. He had surgery afterward to repair a torn right rotator cuff.
Atlas also said Bradley is in better mental and physical shape, and has learned from his previous fights against the Filipino boxer.
“We’d correct the mistakes from the first two fights, use his experience from the past,” Atlas said, according to RT. “A lot worked well in those first two fights, and then we’ll learn from our past. It’s what winners do, what smart people are supposed to do.”
In October, Arum told ESPN he wasn’t sad about the fight being Manny’s last, given his goal to pursue a political career, which requires mental acuity.
“If he stays in boxing a little too long, his mental faculties might be somewhat impaired,” Arum said.
However, in more recent reports, the long-time promoter said he didn’t want to say it would be Pacquiao’s final showdown in the ring.
“I’m not going to sell it as that because I don’t want everybody to say, ‘Hey, it’s his last fight, come and see it!’ and then it turns out that it’s not his last fight,” he said.
“Who the hell knows with these guys? They all change their minds so I’m not selling it as his last fight,” he added.
Both Pacquiao and Bradley won one fight each of their two matches, with Bradley the victor of the first showdown in 2012 in a split decision, and Pacquiao winner in 2014 via unanimous decision.
Atlas said he has already studied both fights in preparation for the third.
“It’ll be a tough challenge, but we’ll make sure we’re ready for it. We will respect the challenge Pacquiao presents. We will do what we’re supposed to do and be 100 percent prepared. It will be a difficult fight,” he said.
Pacquiao also took the opportunity to refute a previous Philboxing.com report that quoted the Filipino boxer saying he would not retire until he secured a rematch against Mayweather, after his defeat last May.
“I never said that. Nobody spoke to me about that,” Pacquiao said, Inquirer reported.
Pacquiao’s retirement will follow that of Mayweather, who retired after his fight against two-time welterweight world champion Andre Berto in September.
