Manny Pacquiao announced his retirement on Wednesday after a legendary 26-year career in the ring.
"It is difficult for me to accept that my time as a boxer is over. Today, I am announcing my retirement," Pacquiao said in a video entitled "Good bye boxing" that was posted on his official Facebook page. "Wow... I never thought that this day would come. As I hang up my boxing gloves, I would like to thank the whole world especially the Filipino people, for supporting Manny Pacquiao.
"I just heard the final bell. Tapos na ang boksing {boxing is done}. Maraming, maraming salamat po [thank you very much}. God is good all the time. I was given the opportunity of representing the Philippines, bringing fame and honor to my country every time I entered the ring. I am grateful for all my accomplishments and the opportunity to inspire the fans."
Pacquiao thanked his former managers and trainers but gave a special shout-out to the late Rod Nazario, his former manager who brought him to the Wild Card Boxing Club in Los Angeles in 2001 where he met Freddie Roach, who would go on to guide the fighter for most of the next 20 years.
"And I will never forget the one person who helped me, Rod Nazario, who was once my manager. He brought me to the United States 20 years ago and arranged my introduction to my trainer Freddie Roach at Wild Card Boxing Gym. Freddie Roach was not only my trainer, but also my family--- a brother and a friend."
Pacquiao's announcement comes a month after a unanimous decision loss to Cuban Yordenis Ugas for the WBA "super" welterweight title.
Pacquiao announced on Sept. 19 that he would run for the Philippine presidency in the May 2022 elections. The 42-year-old pride of General Santos City and Sarangani ends his career as the sport's only eight-division world champion with a record of 62 wins (39 KOs), eight losses, and two draws.
Pacquiao, 42, turned to boxing at an early age as a means to escape poverty, and made his professional debut in Jan. 1995. He won his first world title -- the WBC flyweight strap -- in Dec. 1998 just two weeks before his 20th birthday.
Pacquiao did not manage to hold on to his first world title for too long as he lost it at the scales before his second defense. He then suffered a technical knockout loss to Medgoes Singsurat.
Bypassing 115 and 118 pounds, Pacquiao started campaigning at the super bantamweight division. After only six fights at 122 pounds, Pacquiao got the biggest break of his career as a late replacement to challenge IBF champion Lehlo Ledwaba. He scored a technical knockout win that introduced him to the US fanbase.
However, his next big win catapulted him into superstardom when he stopped the legendary Marco Antonio Barrera for the Ring Magazine featherweight title. The Filipino then continued through a Mexican gauntlet with epic fights against Juan Manuel Marquez, Erik Morales, Hector Velazquez, and Oscar Larios.
The Pacman won a title in his fourth weight division with a razor-thin split decision over Marquez in their rematch. He immediately left the 130 pounds division to challenge and defeat WBC lightweight champion David Diaz in his very next fight.
This led to the best stretch of Pacquiao's entire career as he stopped Oscar De La Hoya, knocked out Ricky Hatton for the IBO and Ring Magazine belts at lighter welterweight, dethroned Miguel Cotto for the WBC's welterweight belt, and bludgeoned Antonio Margarito for the WBC super welterweight title that made him boxing's only eight-division world champion.
The Boxing Writers Association of America named him Fighter of the Decade after his incredible run in the 2000s. The following decade wouldn't be as successful as Pacquiao suffered defeats to Timothy Bradley, Marquez, Floyd Mayweather, and Jeff Horn on the back end of his career. But he took on all comers as he faced younger challengers.
He defeated Brandon Rios, avenged his earlier loss to Bradley with two wins, and decisioned Jessie Vargas. Pacquiao then picked up the regular WBA welterweight title with a knockout win against Lucas Matthysse and defended it successfully against Adrien Broner before upgrading the super WBA title with a victory over Keith Thurman. The victory over Thurman made him the oldest welterweight champion in boxing history.
The foray of Pacquiao, who is presently a senator, into the presidential race is the latest move in his political career that began with a failed bid as representative of the first district of South Cotabato. However, he lost to then-incumbent Darlene Antonino-Custodio.
He ran for Congress once more in 2010 and won as representative of Sarangani province via landslide. He moved to the Senate in 2016 after garnering over 16 million votes, placing seventh among 12 candidates.
Pacquiao, who is running on an anti-poverty campaign, is the official candidate of the PDP-Laban Pacquiao faction, the ruling party which has been experiencing turmoil for the last months. He is just one of several people who have already announced their intentions of being the successor to sitting chief executive Rodrigo Duterte.