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Manny Pacquiao

February 21, 2012 by · Comments Off on Manny Pacquiao 

Manny Pacquiao, Eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao is getting ready to begin training for his June 9 WBO welterweight title fight against undefeated Timothy Bradley in Las Vegas.

Will it be the final fight of his brilliant career?

Pacquiao isn’t sure.

“Maybe, but I’m not saying (Bradley) is the last fight,” the 33-year-old Filipino fighter and congressman said by phone Monday. “Maybe I can fight one more. I don’t know.”

One thing seems to be sure, though. Pacquiao, who has always had strong religious convictions, is moving away from the sport and closer to the Catholic Church, which recently named him as an ambassador.

Asked about it, Pacquiao said, “That’s what they say … and I’m happy for that. I will give inspiration and encourage people to read the Bible.”

The Bible has become a much bigger part of Pacquiao’s life recently, and he and his wife, Jinkee, are making it a daily habit. “We need to read the Bible because it’s a manual for your life,” Pacquiao said. “It’s how we enter the kingdom of God.”

Pacquiao has divested himself of his vices, including his vast cockfighting operation – which once had more than 1,000 birds – shut down his restaurant and bar, dropped his ownership in a Manila casino and pledged to the Catholic Church to give up his other vices.

“I have a casino and sold it, and all my roosters, stopped drinking alcohol and everything that’s not good for following the commandments of God,” he said.

Pacquiao said in an interview in the Philippines recently that he realized he was weak before, “and if I had died, I believe my soul would have ended in hell.”

Pacquiao believes boxing does not fit in with his religious lifestyle. “Boxing, for me, hitting each other is not good,” he said Monday. “So I was thinking I’m not going to stay long in boxing.”

Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, said Monday that he had heard stories about Pacquiao’s lifestyle changes and had concerns about the champion’s boxing future.

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