Pacman profiled in Sports Illustrated Magazine, days before the Dela Hoya-Pacquiao Fight

A few days before the much-awaited Dela Hoya-Pacquiao fight (which will be shown in a FREE live telecast at GenSan Gym), US magazine Sports Illustrated in its latest issue datemarked December 8, 2008, featured Manny Pacquiao in a four-page article.

The Sports Illustrated Photo of Manny Pacquiao

Titled POLITICAL PUNCH, it is an amusing insight into General Santos City’s most favored son and is one of the better written profiles about him, chronicling his rise, his unlucky election gamble in GenSan, and everything that comes in between, even his “womanizing”, and as this excerpt at the end of the article conveys, his imminent retirement from boxing and eventual return to test his mettle in politics.

But unlike De La Hoya, Pacquiao has already traced a clear road map to retirement. No more than three bouts after this one—two of which may well be megafights against Britain’s Ricky Hatton and Mayweather—he vows to hang up his gloves for good, likely at age 31. Why then?

The hero of the Philippines grins.

“In 2010,” he says, cracking his knuckles, “I’m going to run for congress again.”

Here is the cover of the Sports Illustrated issue:

Written by Pablo S, Torre, the full article, obviously meant to drum-up interest on the Dela Hoya-Pacquiao Fight, can be accessed by CLICKING HERE.