By Jake Donovan

Ever the politician, Manny Pacquiao has mastered the art of answering tough questions without offering a full answer.

The former eight-division titlist remains locked in for his November 5 showdown with reigning welterweight beltholder Jessie Vargas, which takes place at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The bout’s announcement came just a few months after the future Hall of Famer announced his retirement upon his election win to gain a seat on the Senate in his native Philippines.

Formerly a Congressman in the Philippine province of Sarangai, Pacquiao decided at the time that it would be too difficult to juggle boxing and senatorial duties, and thus opted to give up the sport that made him the most popular athlete in his nation’s history. The retirement didn’t last long, once he learned that – at least for one fight – he can have his cake and eat it too.

It remains to be seen if working full time as a senator and then preparing for a prize fight will take its toll in the ring or in office. For now, he insists that it’s actually allowed him to place more focus separately on both worlds.

“The most difficult part of (being a Senator) is that you don’t get to manage your own time,” Pacquiao said to a group of reporters during an intimate-sized VIP media conference call on Monday. “You have your schedule, so you have to manage the rest of your time. I’ve disciplined myself to focus on the work and on my training.

“I don’t have time to hang out with my friends or anything like that. It’s just work and training – a lot of hard work (for both).”

The event – which Top Rank will distribute on its own as an independent four-fight Pay-Per-View telecast – marks the first time in history that an active Senator will challenge for a major boxing title. Pacquiao knows all about history, having captured titles in more weight classes (eight) than any other boxer and is also tied with Floyd Mayweather Jr. for the most lineal world championships (four).

Mayweather earned his fourth lineal championship with a win over Pacquiao last May in the most lucrative boxing event ever. Pacquiao has fought just once since then, a rousing 12-round win over Timothy Bradley in their rubber match this past April before announcing his retirement to focus on his new duties as a Philippine senator.

The 37-year old southpaw remains noncommittal on adding to his Hall of Fame resume beyond November 5. The hope among his handlers is that he can find a way to continue to co-exist in both worlds, but for now consider it an exercise in futility to even speculate.

“I don't know yet,” Pacquiao (58-6-2, 38KOs) said of fighting in 2017. “My focus is on this November fight. We're not yet thinking about fighting in 2017.

“One (fight) at a time. We cannot say "yes" right now. You can ask me after the fight, on November 6.”

His team fully endorses that statement.

“One step at a time,” proclaimed Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum. “If Manny goes into this fight, dominates this fight and wants to continue there will be certain opponents who will be considered. If he decides it's too much juggling two careers, he won’t continue. If he wants to continue but his performance suffers due to the amount of work, we'll have to look at that.

“Who the hell knows what can happen? He may have such a Senatorial presence in the fight that we might be looking for (unbeaten, unified middleweight titlist Gennady) Golovkin next. If he doesn't vote right in the Senate, some of his constituents might urge him to fight Golovkin next.”

Twitter: @JakeNDaBox_v2