More and more, it looks as though Manny Pacquiao is looking to close the book on his 59-fight, 16-year career. Most recently, the 8-division titlist revealed that God appeared to him in a dream and basically told him to hang up the gloves.
If Manny continues on the path that he seems to be taking, he could very well be out of the sport by next year and pursuing a higher calling. If so, he wouldn’t be the first prize fighter to give up the ring for the pulpit.
Here’s a look at four fighters who went from fighting careers to religious ministry:
George Foreman
The scowling, menacing heavyweight champion of the world who twice destroyed Joe Frazier retired for the first time in 1977 and would become an ordained Baptist minister in his native Houston, Texas. After ten years away from the sport, Big George would come back as a punching preacher with a sunny disposition and an easy smile. Foreman went on to shock the world by stopping Michael Moorer to take the WBA and IBF world titles in 1994?Twenty years after winning his first world title.
Henry Armstrong
“Homicide Hank” is known as one of the true greats of the sport and is an all-time Top 3 fighter on every expert’s list. The only fighter to have simultaneously held three world titles in three weight classes, Armstrong would become a Baptist minister after retiring. The legendary fighter would spend the rest of his days preaching the Gospel and working with underprivileged children.
Earnie Shavers
Regarded as one of the heaviest punchers ever, the two-time world title challenger had been in the ring with the likes of Muhammad Ali, Larry Holmes, Ken Norton, Ron Lyle, and Joe Bugner. After a career as the feared “Black Destroyer,” Shavers would become an ordained Christian minister and set up ministries in Phoenix, Arizona and then in the United Kingdom.
Tommy Burns
Burns, the only Canadian born heavyweight champion in the history of the sport, was also the shortest of all-time at 5 ft. 7. In a career that spanned from 1902 to 1920, Burns would go 11-0-1 in world heavyweight title bouts until eventually losing his title to the legendary Jack Johnson. After retiring a wealthy man, Burns would lose all of his fortune in the stock market crash of 1929. In 1948, the former world champ became an ordained Evangelist minister.
