Final bell tolls for Manny Pacquiao's boxing career
MANILA, Philippines – With tears welling in his eyes, Manny Pacquiao formally announced his retirement from boxing Wednesday.
Yes, it’s time to hang up those gloves.
“It is difficult for me to accept that my time as a boxer is over,” said Pacquiao in an emotional farewell message that he shared online.
The 14-minute video was recorded in the comforts of his elegant home said to be worth over a billion pesos.
“Today, I am announcing my retirement,” said the once skinny boxer who took up the brutal sport to put food on the table for his family.
He once fought for a pack of rice and a purse no more than a dollar.
But as a global superstar, a household name and the face of boxing, Pacquiao earned what most athletes can only dream of.
For the Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight of 2015 alone, Pacquiao made an estimated $150 million.
Twenty-six years since his professional debut, there’s really nothing the heavy-handed boxer from Mindanao can’t buy.
Except time.
Just over a month ago, Pacquiao fought Cuba’s Yordenis Ugas in Las Vegas, and was a mere shadow, a shell of his old self.
The man who brought pride and honor to his country like no one else did advertised the fight as perhaps his last. And with cramps on both legs and age slowing him down, he lost to the Cuban — fair and square.
It turned out to be his last fight.
“I never thought that this day would come. As I hang up my boxing gloves, I would like to thank the whole world, especially the Filipino people, for supporting Manny Pacquiao,” he said.
He rattled off the names who made everything possible, from his trainers, managers, promoters and families so dear to him.
He thanked the media for “telling my story.”
The sitting senator, who is 79 days short of his 43rd birthday, is embarking on an even bigger journey in politics.
But he didn’t drop a word on his dreams of becoming the next president of his nation of more than a hundred million.
On this cloudy day in September, he was saying goodbye as a boxer.
“Even me, I’m amazed at what I have done,” said Pacquiao, the only boxer on this planet to win world titles in eight different weight classes.
There will never be another Manny Pacquiao. Abac CorderoHe fought the best of the best, and won most of the time, compiling an impressive record of 62 wins with 39 knockouts, eight defeats and a couple of draws.
It’s a feat that will be hard to match or surpass.
“The only boxer to hold world titles in four different decades and become the oldest boxer to win a world welterweight title is an amazing accomplishment,” he said.
Then again, he bid farewell.
“Goodbye, boxing. Thank you for changing my life,” he said.
Well, he did change his life, and that of his family, and countless friends, and touched the hearts of millions.
“You (boxing) gave me the chance to find a way out of poverty. Because of you, I was able to inspire people all over the world. Because of you, I have been given the courage to change more lives,” he said.
By this time, late in his speech, the future Hall of Famer was fighting back tears as hard as he fought as a boxer.
“I just heard the final bell. Tapos na ang boxing (It’s done),” he said, voice almost cracking.
“Maraming-maraming salamat po sa inyong lahat (Thank you, everyone). God is good all the time. Thank you,” Pacquiao said.
Then he bowed his head, turned to his right, and walked away from the view of the camera.
Generations from now, people will speak of him and say, “Once upon a time, there was a boxer named Manny Pacquiao.”
His story will live on.
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