‘Pag nanalong senador, Pacquiao iiwan ang boksing

MANILA, Philippines – Handang iwanan ni Manny Pacquiao ang mundo ng boksing kung sakaling manalong senador sa eleksyon 2016, ayon kay Top Rank chief Bob Arum.

Isa sa mga dahilan ni Pacquiao ay hindi na siya maaaring mga-absent s sesyon ng senado, tulad ng kaniyang nagawa sa Kamara bilang kinatawan ng Sarangani province.

 “I'm telling you what he told me last week at dinner in New York. We talked very seriously and he said, 'Bob, hopefully, by the middle of May I will have been elected senator in the Philippines and at that point I cannot engage in boxing because I need to focus on the senate and I have to be in attendance,'” kuwento ni Arum kay Gareth Davis ng The Telegraph.

Naiintindihan naman ni Arum ang nais mangyari ni eight-division champion Pacquiao.

"There are hundreds of congressmen but if he wins the senate seat he has to be there to do the work. It's a real job and if Manny is serious about wanting to be president, these six years in the senate would be like an audition and for him to show his people that he really is a serious politician," paliwanag niya.

Sa Abril pa gustong lumaban ni Pacquiao ngunit hindi pa naman tiyak kung sino ang makakalaban niya at makukumpirma ito sa Disyembre pa.

“Manny told me this would be his last fight and I'm not sad about it because he's going on to a political career which will require a lot of mental acuity, so you don't want him to stay in boxing too long. If he stays in boxing a little too long his mental faculties might be somewhat impaired."