Pacquiao not averse to fighting at Rio Games
by Agency Staff,
2016-03-03 06:08:04.0
BOXING great Manny Pacquiao said on Tuesday it would be an honour to fight for the Philippines at this year’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, where professional fighters could be allowed to compete for the first time.
The eight-time world champion said he had been "personally invited" to the Olympics in Rio by Wu Ching-Kuo, president of the International Boxing Association, the governing body for amateur boxing.
"It would be my honour to represent the country in the Olympics," Pacquiao said. "If I would be asked to represent boxing, why not? I would do everything for my country."
The 37-year-old made the comments while training for what he said would be his last professional fight, a rematch with American Timothy Bradley in Las Vegas on April 9.
Wu said in Switzerland on Monday that the International Boxing Association would vote within three months on proposals that would allow all professional fighters to compete in the Olympics. He said proposed changes to the association’s statutes, set to be put to a vote at the end of May, could leave Olympic eligibility in the hands of the national boxing federations.
Qualifying for the Rio Games that begin on August 5 is already under way, but Wu noted there were still opportunities for professionals to qualify.
Spokesmen for the Philippine Olympic Committee had no comment on Pacquiao’s statement.
Pacquiao has posted a 57-6-2 win-loss-draw record in a 21-year professional career that began in 1995.
He never competed in the Olympics, although he did act as the country’s flag-bearer in the 2008 Games.
Already an elected member of the house of representatives, he is running for a senate seat in May elections, with an eye on an eventual presidential bid.
His Olympic comments came after he sparked a controversy with comments describing homosexual couples as "worse than animals".
The comments, for which he made a qualified apology, cost him his long-term association with sponsor Nike.
AFP
Manny Pacquiao. Picture: AFP PHOTO/TIMOTHY A CLARY
BOXING great Manny Pacquiao said on Tuesday it would be an honour to fight for the Philippines at this year’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, where professional fighters could be allowed to compete for the first time.
The eight-time world champion said he had been "personally invited" to the Olympics in Rio by Wu Ching-Kuo, president of the International Boxing Association, the governing body for amateur boxing.
"It would be my honour to represent the country in the Olympics," Pacquiao said. "If I would be asked to represent boxing, why not? I would do everything for my country."
The 37-year-old made the comments while training for what he said would be his last professional fight, a rematch with American Timothy Bradley in Las Vegas on April 9.
Wu said in Switzerland on Monday that the International Boxing Association would vote within three months on proposals that would allow all professional fighters to compete in the Olympics. He said proposed changes to the association’s statutes, set to be put to a vote at the end of May, could leave Olympic eligibility in the hands of the national boxing federations.
Qualifying for the Rio Games that begin on August 5 is already under way, but Wu noted there were still opportunities for professionals to qualify.
Spokesmen for the Philippine Olympic Committee had no comment on Pacquiao’s statement.
Pacquiao has posted a 57-6-2 win-loss-draw record in a 21-year professional career that began in 1995.
He never competed in the Olympics, although he did act as the country’s flag-bearer in the 2008 Games.
Already an elected member of the house of representatives, he is running for a senate seat in May elections, with an eye on an eventual presidential bid.
His Olympic comments came after he sparked a controversy with comments describing homosexual couples as "worse than animals".
The comments, for which he made a qualified apology, cost him his long-term association with sponsor Nike.
AFP
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