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Manny Pacquiao on verge of senate seat in Philippines

Manny Pacquiao (Getty Images)
Manny Pacquiao (Getty Images)

It appears that former eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao is set to take a senatorial seat in the Philippines.

According to Rappler, Pacquiao is currently situated among the top 12 candidates who will be bound for a seat in the Philippines senate in July. Although not all the precincts have been tallied as of this writing, Pacquiao reportedly has a firm hold on the position.

The Filipino fighter said that he would be retiring after his April 19 victory over Timothy Bradley, as he wanted to focus on a political career and made a promise to his wife and mother that his boxing career would be a thing of the past. However, Pacquiao has seemingly left the door open for a return bout. There have been rumblings of a return bout with Floyd Mayweather, which broke numerous pay-per-view records, but nothing substantial as of yet.

As a politician, Pacquiao has seen success despite being embroiled in controversy. His comments about the LGBT community where he stated that those in support of same sex marriages were “worse than animals” drew the ire of many. He has also been criticized for his inactivity during his tenure as congressman of the Sarangani province where he only attended four sessions in 2014.

The controversy hasn’t done any damage to his political aspirations, as it appears that Pacquiao will be officially taking his seat as a senator on July 1.