MANILA, Philippines ? Confident of victory in the May 9 elections, boxing icon Manny Pacquiao has reiterated that he will retire from the sport after his fight with Timothy Bradley.
Their third showdown will take place on April 9 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas with Bradley?s WBO welterweight title, which used to be Pacquiao?s, at stake.
On record, Pacquiao and Bradley are 1-1 after two fights in 2012 and 2014. Pacquiao said the deciding fight will be his farewell fight.
?My April 9 fight against Timothy Bradley will be my last,? said Pacquiao, denying a recent report that he?s pursuing a rematch against Floyd Mayweather Jr.
?I?m retiring from boxing to focus on my new job,? he told Philboxing.com.
A report came out a few days ago, also at Philboxing.com, saying Pacquiao, 37, will not retire until he gets the second fight against Mayweather, who beat him last May. Headlines ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 .
?I never said anything like that. No one has interviewed me regarding that,? said Pacquiao yesterday in General Santos City. ?After my fight on April 9, I will retire from boxing.?
He has won 57 fights, including 38 knockouts, lost six and had two draws in a professional career spanning more than 20 years after being raised in poverty.
Pacquiao, a two-term congressman in the southern province of Sarangani, is running for senator in the national elections.
Early surveys said Pacquiao is inside the Magic 12, the number of seats that need to be filled in the 24-seat Philippine Senate.
Pacquiao is confident that he will make it.
?Consistent ?yong ranking natin sa mga surveys. Among the top 10, palagi tayong nasa (we?re always) number seven or number eight,? he said.
Once the campaign period starts, Pacquiao expects his ranking to go even higher.
?I expect na aakyat pa ang ranking natin, lalo na kapag naikot natin ang buong bansa (once I move around the country),? he said.
If he becomes senator, Pacquiao said all his time and energy will be spent in serving the people, and it will be very difficult for him to stay a boxer.
The Senate is a traditional springboard for future presidential campaigns. Three of the last Philippine presidents, including the incumbent Benigno Aquino III, were senators before they were elected to the country?s highest office.
Promoter Bob Arum, however, said he still won?t sell the Bradley fight as Pacquiao?s last.
?No. I?m not sure if this will be his last fight. I don?t want to mislead anybody. I don?t know if this is his last fight,? Arum told The STAR.
Arum said he doesn?t want people to blame him once Pacquiao suddenly decides to fight again.
?People will say, ?Hey, you said that (Bradley) was his last fight and now he?s fighting again.? I don?t know if this is his last fight,? he said.
The former fish vendor is adored by the Filipino masses who are inspired by his rags-to-riches life story.
Aside from politics, Pacquiao has parlayed his ring legend status to a career in movies, television and product endorsements.
He is also a pastor in a born-again Christian group and credits his renewed faith for transforming him to a devoted family man from a hard-partying womanizer.
In a recent television interview, Pacquiao said he ?prayed to God for guidance? before deciding to concentrate on politics.
Pacquiao, however, has been criticized for putting his boxing training before his duties in Congress. Last year, he attended just four of the 70 legislative sessions.
In one of the rare times he took the floor in Congress in 2011, he argued against a bill that would provide free condoms for the poor, citing his Christian beliefs. The bill was eventually signed into law.
