Manny Pacquiao plans to run for Philippines presidency
The boxer remains active in the ring, but he is ready to change the course of his career and wants to become the president of the Philippines in 2022.
Last month, Manny Pacquiao returned to the ring to fight Yordenis Ugás and he accepted the fight after a two-year layoff. The famous boxer took the fight with just 11 days' notice because Errol Spence Jr. withdrew from the main event.
Ready for the next step in his career
But the 42-year-old boxer disappointed many with his performance and lost against Ugás by a margin of 101 to 88 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada in August. Pacquiao’s boxing career seems to be coming to an end and he has been into politics for some time now. He has been a senator in the Philippines and this weekend he announced that he plans to run for president in 2022.
"I am a fighter, and I will always be a fighter inside and outside the ring," Pacquiao said during his speech. “We need the government to serve our people with integrity, compassion and transparency.”
Pacquiao has been nominated for the presidency by a faction of the ruling PDP-Laban Party. The current president, Rodrigo Duterte, cannot seek a second six-year team, but a rival faction of the party has put Duterte forward for the vice-presidency.
“In my whole life, I have not backed down on any fight,” said Pacquiao. Duterte will talk to the Commission on Elections to stop the 42-year-old boxer from running for president because according to him "his allies are illegitimate officers of the ruling party".