MANILA (Updated 2:54 p.m.) — After claiming he was told by God to retire, a Catholic Church bishop wasted no time egging on eight-division world boxing champion and Sarangani Representative Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao to firm up plans to hang up his gloves soon.
In an interview, Marbel Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez said he is glad that Pacquiao has finally considered what he has been telling him long before.
“Sinabihan ko na siya noon na mag-retire na siya (I have long been telling him to retire from boxing). He is now a changed man and trying to be an obedient son of God, our Father,” said Gutierrez.
What’s more impressive, he added, is the reason now being given by the fighting congressman is that he wants to follow God’s words.
“What he said is that professional boxing hurts both boxers. The bible, God’s word, commands to love one another and forbids to harm our neighbor, which is the temple of God?s spirit,” Gutierrez said.
He said he has already done a lot for the sport of boxing and need not anymore prove himself by fighting the unbeaten Floyd Mayweather.
“There is no need to prove himself. He has already proven himself,” the bishop said.
Sarangani province is under the jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Marbel.
Pacquiao’s decision was also supported by a former chairman of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines ? Episcopal Commission for the Biblical Apostolate (CBCP-ECBA), believing that the former’s devotion to the Bible had indeed made him a changed man.
“He should really retire from boxing because he seems to have been converted. Sometimes in the Bible, as we read, God appears to people in his dream so the result is very good,” said Sorsogon Bishop Arturo Bastes in a separate interview.
Last Monday, Pacquiao claimed that he had been told by God in a dream to retire soon but declined to reveal how many more fights he would have before stepping down.
Pacquiao is set to put on the line his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight crown against undefeated American pugilist Timothy Bradley in Las Vegas on June 9. (AMN/Sunnex)
