Boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao will retire after his next fight in October, reports ESPN.
His promoter Bob Arum says the only boxer to win championships in eight weight classes plans to devote the next phase of his life to politics in the Philippines.
“I’m telling you what he told me last week at dinner in New York,” Arum said. “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.’
“Manny told me this fight on April 9 will be his last fight.”
Arum says the job of a senator is a full time job versus Pacquiao’s current role as a Congressman which the trainer described as a “bullsh*t” job.
No opponent has been named for Pacquiao’s farewell match in the ring, although several contenders have been mentioned.
Junior welterweight titlist Terence Crawford (27-0, 19 KOs) and England’s Amir Khan (31-3, 19 KOs) are in the mix.
You can read about some of the other contenders on ESPN.
