BOXING manager and promoter Wakee Salud said yesterday that Filipino ring idol Manny Pacquiao should concentrate on his boxing career first, before thinking of politics, following persistent reports that he would be Ali Atienza’s running mate in the Manila mayoralty race next year.
Salud, a close friend and confidant of Pacquiao, said: “Manny’s career is blooming right now and he should not enter politics. Not now, anyway. Manny likes to help his countrymen.”
Salud said: “It will come when his career is over.”
Pacquiao is believed to have two good years left and a chance to rake it in from fighting a roster of top-caliber opponents, including legendary Mexicans Erik “El Terrible” Morales, Wold Boxing Council super featherweight champion Marco Antonio Barrera and newly crowned World Boxing Organization featherweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez, among others.
Most of Pacquiao’s avid supporters have made their feelings known, sometimes in harsh terms, on the Manny Pacquiao Web site run by PhilBoxing.com head Dong Secuya.
A vast majority want Pacquiao to stay out of politics and to continue fighting for himself and the glory of the Philippines, while a few have indicated its his right to choose, confident that if he runs for public office, he will surely win.
