There’s no more fight left in Pacquiao

PHILIPPINE boxing legend and 2022 presidential hopeful Manny Pacquiao said on Wednesday that he was hanging up his gloves after a glittering career in the ring.

The eight-division world champion and senator, who has his sights set on a high-stakes rumble to replace President Rodrigo Duterte, said quitting the sport that had lifted him out of poverty was the “hardest decision” of his life.

“It is difficult for me to accept that my time for me as a boxer is over,” Pacquiao, 42, said in a video message on Twitter that quickly went viral. Today I am announcing my retirement.”

It comes weeks after Pacquiao, considered one of the best boxers of all time, lost what turned out to be his last professional fight, against Cuban Yordenis Ugas in Las Vegas.

Pacquiao, who entered politics in 2010 as a congressman before being elected to the Senate, said last week that he would have a shot at the country’s highest office.

Pacquiao, a married father of five, thanked his millions of fans around the world, and paid special tribute to his long-time trainer Freddie Roach, who he described as “my family, a brother and a friend”.

The decision ended weeks of speculation that Pacquiao was planning to retire after 26 years as a professional boxer. He finished with a 62-8 win-loss record and two draws.