Belmonte: Not yet time for Manny to retire

MANILA, Philippines–Even though Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. wants to see more of Manny Pacquiao on the plenary floor, he does not want the Filipino hero to leave the boxing ring for good.

The leader of the House of Representatives on Monday said it was not yet time for Pacquiao, the representative from Sarangani, to retire, in spite of his loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in Las Vegas.

“We should think twice about that because Manny is still young. The other guy is (almost) 40 years old already,” Belmonte said. Pacquiao is 36, while Mayweather is 38.

He said he was very proud of how the Filipino fought against the American, and believes the former had won more rounds, in spite of the unanimous decision.

“Let’s face reality. When you fight someone like that, you will need a knockout or a knockdown. Otherwise, the defending champion will win. But I believe Pacquiao did a good job,” Belmonte told reporters.

“The scoring of the judges, three of them, I think that’s really nuts,” he said.

In a statement, Belmonte also expressed the collective pride of Congress in Pacquiao.

“Manny, we are very proud of you. All of us congressmen here, especially myself, all the Filipinos here, we are very proud of you,” he said.

Belmonte watched the fight at Amoranto Stadium with thousands of his constituents.