By Mitch Abramson
Manny Pacquiao provided a window into his thinking on the topic of retirement on Tuesday when he said he’s contemplating running for Governor in 2013 of the Sarangani province in the Philippines, where he is currently serving as a congressman, and that the task of holding such an office while also focusing on boxing would be too much to handle, even for a multi-tasker such as Pacquiao.
“It’s a good thing right now because in Congress it’s not really hard work,” Pacquiao said during a press conference in lower Manhattan to hype his Nov. 12 fight with Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas. “If you are an executive, like a governor, it’s going to be hard to continue my boxing career because it’s seven days a week and 24 hours a day. It’s going to be a lot of work in the office. Maybe by 2013 I’m running for Governor and it’s going to be hard for me to continue my boxing career.”
When someone asked if he might run for president one day, Pacquiao laughed, and said, “You never know.”
But Pacquiao made it clear that he’s not waiting for a fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. to cap his career and ride off into the sunset.
“If that happens or not- it’s no matter,” he said to laughter. At the same time, regarding a potential fight with Mayweather, he would go through with the fight to fulfill the wishes of his fans, who have been clamoring for him to fight Mayweather.
“Millions of fans would get to see the fight,” he said if the fight is ever brokered. “But, when are we going to do it? If we push hard, it [still] may not get pushed through.”
Mitch Abramson covers boxing for the New York Daily News and BoxingScene.com.