Pacquiao: Retirement drawing closer

FEEL THE LOVE Despite losing the championship to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the May 3 “Fight of the Century,” boxer and Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao receives a beloved hero’s welcome that included a homecoming motorcade from Pasay Road, Makati City, to Rajah Sulayman Park in Manila on Wednesday. NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

Boxing champion Manny Pacquiao made a low-key return to the Philippines on Wednesday after losing his megafight with American Floyd Mayweather Jr. and said retirement was drawing closer.

His right arm supported by a black sling after surgery on a torn rotator cup, the eight-division world champion, who is also the representative of Sarangani province in Congress, said he had put plans for higher office in the backseat to concentrate on his recovery.

Before the fight, President Aquino advised Pacquiao to retire, win or lose.

The President expressed concern for Pacquiao’s health, noting that boxing great Muhammad Ali has Parkinson’s disease, an ailment that hits boxers.

Aquino said he would want Pacquiao to enjoy life, his wealth and his family.

“I will focus first on healing my shoulder. After that, I will announce whether to continue my career or my retirement,” Pacquiao told reporters at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminal 2.

“I’m not saying I am going to retire, but it’s near. I’m already 36, turning 37 this December,” he said, adding that it could take six months for his shoulder to recover.

Asked about a rematch with Mayweather, who called him a “sore loser” and a “coward” after he disclosed his shoulder injury in a postfight news conference in Las Vegas on May 2, Pacquiao said: “I [would] like that. I want that. But my focus right now is my shoulder, my work as a congressman and my family.”

As for Mayweather’s comments, he said: “I don’t want to say anything, because if I say something I will be stooping to his level.”

Few signs of Pacquiao’s early-morning arrival were visible at Naia 2, and he was later welcomed by modest crowds as he paraded around Manila on the back of a flat-bed truck.

‘I won by 2 points’

“I have accepted my defeat. It is just boxing. That is part of the sport where sometimes you win and sometimes you lose,” Pacquiao said.

But he insisted that he won the fight despite the unanimous decision that gave him the honor in what has been called the richest fight in history to Mayweather.

He said that after reviewing the fight on video, he believed he won by a slim margin.

“I reviewed the fight and kept score. I won by two points … but a decision has been made and we have to accept it. At least in the people’s hearts, I won,” he said.

And in still another way, he is a winner, he said.

“I still won because before and after the fight, Mayweather thanked the Lord,” he said, referring to the undefeated American champion’s thanking God for willing him to face Pacquiao in the Fight of the Century and thanking God again after winning the bout.

Despite the outcome of the fight, officials still laid on the motorcade around Manila, where autographed T-shirts and CDs of Pacquiao’s songs were flung to waiting fans who waved to him and called him still the people’s champ.

Call on Aquino

Later, Pacquiao went to Malacañang to make a courtesy call on President Aquino. He was accompanied to the Palace by his Canadian adviser, Michael Koncz, and Solar Sports president Wilson Tieng.

“The President congratulated and thanked Representative Pacquiao for bringing honor to the country by fighting with courage and skill,” said Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma.

“The President observed that Mayweather may have projected himself as having been slightly more aggressive in the early rounds and that this may have influenced the eventual outcome, but that like most spectators, he observed that Mayweather avoided engaging Representative Pacquiao at close quarters,” Coloma said.

He said the President also asked Pacquiao “about his immediate plans.”

He said Pacquiao told Aquino that he would rest a while. Pacquiao also said that according to his doctor, his shoulder injury might take about three months to heal, Coloma said.

Among the government officials who greeted Pacquiao at Malacañang’s Music Room were Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Deles and Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima.

Coloma said Pacquiao gave Aquino two black jackets as souvenirs of the fight.

Political plans

Reporters asked the champion about his political plans, especially about running for President, which fight promoter Bob Arum said before the fight was part of Pacquiao’s plans after retirement.

“That’s not even on my mind,” Pacquiao said. “It’s like when I started in boxing, my only dream was to be the country’s champion. That was my focus and I did not think of anything else.”

“I’m not thinking of the [presidency],” he added. “But you know God’s plan is higher than our plans. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. So who can say?”

Pacquiao is not eligible to run for President until he reaches the minimum age of 40, ruling him out in next year’s presidential election, with 2022 likely to be his first opportunity.

Enormous cost

But he said his wife’s worries over the enormous cost of running for higher political office both to their bank accounts and to their family was making him cautious.

Pacquiao’s wife, Jinkee, is vice governor of Sarangani and she, too, is reviewing her political career.

“My wife said it’s difficult because we are losing time for our children,” Pacquiao said.

The Pacquiaos have three sons and two daughters.

“We’ve also been spending millions out of our own pockets to help the poor. We can’t just shoo away people lined up at our door,” he said.

Asked about his plans for next year’s elections, Pacquiao replied: “My plan is still for 2015, to continue serving the public. My focus is on Sarangani province and what I can do to help my [constituents].”

Pacquiao was recently designated acting chair of the House committee on overseas workers’ affairs. He said he needed to buckle down to work and preside over committee hearings, including an inquiry into the case of Mary Jane Veloso, the Filipino maid who was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to death in Indonesia.

House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said Wednesday that the chronic absentee Pacquiao was appointed because he was senior vice chair of the panel. Pacquiao was named acting chair of the committee, he said, so that the post left by resigned Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello would not remain vacant.

Belmonte said he was looking for someone “who is more active and more involved, more present” to appoint as chair of the committee.–With reports from Gil C. Cabacungan and AFP

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