As a parent, I use daily life as a tool to teach my children. I share my philosophy with them that professional boxing is a job. It stays in the gym where it belongs. I hold no malice, no ill will, towards any of my opponents. Like any other job, I work hard daily to achieve success and to reach my full potential.
Do I want to win? You bet. I am an athlete and a competitor. That is what drives me in all my training camps. I like to win. But that does not mean I want to hurt anyone badly. That is why before and after every fight I pray for the welfare and safety of my opponent. They are not my enemy but my opposition. I have the utmost respect for them. I never speak ill of them to my family or to anyone.
I was a good boy growing up, even when I started to learn boxing. I never got in fights in school or on the streets. That?s not what I was about. Now that I?m a parent, I know the importance of teaching by example. What matters most in the Pacquiao household is church, family, education and giving back. That is what my wife Jinkee and I emphasize every day.
When I became a professional boxer, I did it because I loved the sport, I loved to compete and it seemed like a good way to earn money for my family. When I began winning, a new goal was to become a world champion, for the same reasons, plus for personal pride of performance.
I have always tried to perform to the best of my abilities in every fight. After I defeated Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez and David Diaz and had won world titles in five different divisions I was very proud of what I accomplished. But after I moved up to welterweight and beat Oscar De La Hoya, who was a personal hero to me, I think that is when I had a real sense of the history I had achieved.
