Pacquiao next fight tells me, ‘Oh, my Gad!’

WHATEVER Manny Pacquiao does is practically news. All celebrities enjoy that privilege. An exceptional person that he is, his sporting records are profoundly extraordinary.

And, if only to belabor the fact that he is the only one to have held eight world boxing crowns in eight different weight divisions, several other records of his are worth retelling, too.

Pacquiao is the first incumbent congressman anywhere in the world to have fought— and won—boxing matches of world stature.

While being a lawmaker, he had tangled against some of the best, including the unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Although he lost, Pacquiao’s 2015 encounter with Mayweather became the richest fight of all time.

In that bout, Mayweather pocketed no less than $200 million and Pacquiao no less than $100 million—catapulting them to Forbes Magazine’s Top 10 wealthiest athletes in recent memory.

Even as Pacquiao virtually fought Mayweather with just one healthy arm—he concealed a right shoulder injury suffered in training—the People’s Champ emerged virtually unscathed in yielding a 12-round decision loss to Mayweather, now retired with a 49-0 record.

Who knows that should a rematch materialize, Pacquiao—because he has un-retired after retiring in April—might give Mayweather a totally different fight with a totally healthy body.

But before that, though, Pacquiao has agreed to fight first Jessie Vargas, the world welterweight champion of American-Mexican descent.

The bout tabled for Nov. 6 (PHL Time) in Las Vegas, Pacquiao—as early as July—has given me the creeps, mainly because I see his view of his comeback fight unpalatable.

I specifically refer to his training schedule.

He has practically eight weeks left to prepare for the fight. And yet, September will be devoted to Pacquiao being an active, session-attending Senator by day and a dedicated warrior-in-training by night.

It’s a killer regimen already but it seems still weird as he can only start his full-time preparation by Oct. 5, when the Senate goes into recess—barely a month before tangling with Vargas.

As President Duterte loves to say, “My Gad!”

Still, whatever happens on Nov. 6, Pacquiao shall have become the first senator to fight for a world title. Naks!