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Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao, trying to pick up the pieces following his shocking loss to nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez, has expressed the desire to stage his next fight in his native country the Philippines or the growing sporting capital of Asia, the City of Singapore.
In an intimate moment with family members and friends last night after a Bible exposition in the fully-air-conditioned Tambler Gymnasium which he built, the 34-year-old Congressman from Saranggani Province said he feels he owes it to the Filipino people to stage one of his last few fights in his home country.
“I am looking at Manila or Singapore as the venue of my next fight,” Manny told me during a private dinner with a preacher from Israel, members of his family and his close friends.
Manny said a rich Filipino businessman has offered to put up $30-M (roughly P1.3-B) for him to stage his next fight in Manila.
Manny, who was with his adviser Michael Koncz, said that it has not been decided who will be his next opponent.
But the names of Juan Manuel Marquez and Tim Bradley, two boxers who dealt him his losses in his last two fights were mentioned during the conversation.
When I asked him whether he would still be fighting for the next three years, Manny retorted: “Three years? That’s too long.”
That statement made me conclude that boxing fans could expect to see Manny in two or three more fights before he hangs up his gloves for good and focuses on his political career.
Manny is running for his second term as Congressman of the Lone District of Saranggani unopposed. He is believed to be eyeing a seat in the Senate by 2016, when he has reached the mandatory age requirement of 35.
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