THE "PACMAN" GAMEPLAN

Talk'OH! Tuesday

Written by Glenn Javier

Filipino pride Manny "PacMan" Pacquiao has officially retired from his beloved, lifelong career of boxing. The sports world's only eight-division boxing champion posted a video on Facebook last week announcing his departure after 26 years and 72 fights with 62 wins, 2 draws (... and 8 losses). "It is difficult for me to accept that my time as a boxer is over..." Pacquiao said. "Today, I am announcing my retirement. I never thought that this day would come. As I hang up my boxing gloves, I would like to thank the whole world, especially the Filipino people, for supporting Manny Pacquiao",

he added.

At 42, Manny has won 12 major titles with 39 knockouts in his career and was the lineal champion in five different divisions. He also held titles in four different decades (the '90s, '00s, '10s and '20s). Currently, he is a congressman or a member of the Philippine House of Representatives. His next step was declared right after this news. Manny is running for president of his country (The Philippines) in 2022.

Source: Christian Petersen / Getty Images

ESPN enumerated his best performances which include owning a 2-1-1 record against Juan Manuel Marquez, wins over Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera, Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito, Shane Mosley, Timothy Bradley Jr., Brandon Rios and Oscar De La Hoya, to name a few. From fellow ring athletes to boxing insiders, many in the boxing world flooded social media (well, mostly Twitter) and our televisions screens with their thoughts and/or reactions, mainly praising the boxing star for his remarkable and triumphant run over the decades.

However, his retirement from boxing happened after his defeat to Yordenis Ugas in Paradise, Nevada more than a month ago. The younger Cuban boxer beat Pacquiao by unanimous decision, retaining his WBA welterweight title. It was Pacquiao’s first fight in more than two years.

President PacMan

In terms of his political plans, Manny Pacquiao says he will run for president of the Philippines in the 2022 elections after railing against corruption in government and what he calls President Rodrigo Duterte’s cozy relationship with China.

Source: Facebook

Pacquiao, currently a senator, was nominated on Sunday by his political party allies from PDP-Laban during the group’s national assembly, days after a rival faction nominated Duterte as its choice for vice president and his longtime aide, Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, as the party’s presidential candidate.

According to analysts, Pacquiao's presidential bid presents a potential impediment to Duterte’s plans as the race for the top post continues.