Chew on this for a moment.
The best thing, for those invested in Manny Pacquiao the fighter ? be they fans, promoters or cable TV providers who disseminate the pay-per-view fights in which he takes part ? is the reaction to his anti-gay comments in his native land.
As you all know, he unfavorably compared gays to animals and doubled down with an Instagram post referring to an Old Testament passage which supported gays to be put to death. Howls of protest erupted in certain circles with his promoter, Bob Arum, CEO of Top Rank Promotions, calling the remarks ?reprehensible? and not many, save for social media commenters, are standing with Manny.
Many of those commenters were doing so from the Philippines, as you could surmise, and indeed heard from analysts with knowledge of that regional culture, that such a stance wouldn?t be as widely derided by citizens there as it was here in the United States.
That wisdom got tested though, when polling showed that public support for the Congressman, gunning for a Senate seat in the May 14 election, had lessened, post-gay flap. Anecdotal confirmations pointed to to the poll drop as being chiefly a result of his public stance versus gay rights.
So, wouldn?t this be weird???Pacman?s? poll drop keeps trending and he loses the Senate runoff? Being Pacquiao has insisted this third clash against Tim Bradley on April 9 would be his farewell fight ? because he couldn?t handle the massive multitasking inherent in trying to be a Senator/pugilist ? that reason for hanging up the gloves would be removed.
So, Pac-olytes: People who very much want the fighting pride of (most of) the Phillipines to keep fighting, and not step off the stage as an active pugilist, you might want to monitor the polls which have Manny in the bottom third of candidates.
That gay slap flap might have spurred consequences which could reverberate longer than originally thought.
