While we’re most concerned with Manny Pacquiao’s future in the boxing ring, his life and career beyond the squared circle seems to be headed in a predictable direction, with a Presidential run in the Philippines in 2022. Of course, that chatter is nothing new — we’ve been talking about Pacquiao’s inevitable run for President of the Philippines for years.
This latest speculation stems from a Bob Arum video interview with TMZ Sports (note: that’s Mr. yesterday I was lying, today I’m telling the truth, so his word should be taken with a a grain of salt or two). Nevertheless, he seems to be on point with where he thinks Pacquiao is heading.
According to Arum, Pacquiao will retire next year, although again, that’s far from set. Pacquiao retiring next year would also diverge a bit from our projection of Pacquiao’s future career — we forecasted that Pacquiao would get back in the ring and score a few modest wins in 2016 setting up a pass the torch finale against Top Rank fighter Terence Crawford in 2017.
However, that could still all happen next year, and seems like a plausible exit strategy for both Pacquiao and Top Rank. For Pacquiao, he would have a chance to go out truly on top, scoring a huge win against the best young fighter in the game, whereas Crawford would have a chance to get Pacquiao’s name on his own resume. Meanwhile Top Rank affords itself the opportunity of further building up their young star, win or lose (although most likely, win, and you can be sure that’s the outcome that Top Rank would be hoping for, too).
Other options on the table include a Pacquiao fight in Dubai, and by lord we hope not, a rematch with Floyd Mayweather.
We’ll keep you posted on any other news or rumors we hear regarding Pacquiao’s next fight, retirement plans, or Presidential future.
