By Gareth A Davies, Telegraph.co.uk
Manny Pacquiao now takes on an altogether different fight. For a seat in the lower house of congress in The Philippines. The election is on May 10. It is a noble act for boxing’s leading purveyor of the noble art. To many in the West, it is unthinkable that a sportsman can or could perform such a feat in the sometime murky world of politics.Would David Beckham ever do the same ? Could Tiger Woods – before his indiscretions – have contemplated such a move ?
But trying stopping ‘Pacman’. There are those who believe Pacquiao is entering much heavier waters than a boxing ring. There are even those who believe he is simply putting his life on the line.
Bob Arum, his promoter, is convinced that the next time he introduces Pacquiao on a boxing dais, it will be as ‘The Honourable Manny Pacquiao’.
Pacquiao has not taken long after his defeat (at times, suffocatingly frustrating) of tough guy African Joshua Clottey to spell out that he wants Floyd Mayweather next, but perhaps more importantly, wants an altogether different role. Boxing will be forgotten now for two months. Nor, indeed, is he to overtly use his celebratory rally in The Philippines to celebrate his recent victory, as a political tool. I’m told that is forbidden in his homeland.
The National Fist did put out a public statement, however. “But now it is time for a more serious fight for me and that is my campaign for congress. The people of my province are among the poorest. They have been under-served for too long. I want to give a voice to those too weak to speak. They deserve better schools and a higher standard of living. I know how my people have suffered because I have too. That is how I grew up and because I am one of the fortunate ones to have escaped poverty I am compelled to be a public servant for them. If my being in public office can attract new businesses to relocate to my province and to shine a light on the neglect my people have endured, I am only too happy to serve.”
“One of the biggest advantages I have is that every fight is an opportunity to give honour to the Philippines. The Filipino people don’t just give me their support, they also give me their strength, their pride and their love. Running for congress is a way for me to repay them.”
The boy who came from the shanty is now the sixth richest athlete in the world. He is wanted to endorse beer, ice cream, ibuprofen, and enjoys, with the world’s other leading sponrtsmen, the sponsorship of Nike.
He enjoys great wealth – and has accrued assets. Gasoline stations, coffee shops, a boxing-promotion company, a gym, a basketball team, a grocery store and a rooster farm. His home in General Santos is a compound, guarded 24/7. Outside there, those afflicted by poverty will already have started forming an orderly queue. They will each be given bags with rice and sardines inside, and £3.
Last year, Pacquiao earned $40 million. Much is given away by this one man welfare state. It goes to indivuduals, hospitals and schools. But is all this enough to gain the votes of the people?
Pacquiao lost his first bid for congress in the town where he grew up, General Santos City, in 2007, to Darlene Antonino-Custodio. He lost by a large margin. A large unanimous decision in boxing terms.
On May 10, Pacquiao will run for congress in Sarangani Province, where his wife, Jinkee, grew up as a child. The family of his opponent, shipping magnate Roy Chiongbian, have been the political mayordomos for years. Pacquiao is the No 1 boxer in the world. But his fight is just beginning…
Source: blogs.telegraph.co.uk
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