Editorial - Boxing and preaching just don't mix

When boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao said he has been renewed and has become closer to God, many could hardly believe. For with all the huge fortune he had amassed, how could such a famous athlete, who admitted to having engaged in many forms of vices, suddenly make such an earth-shaking decision?

Now, the world champion is making rounds telling the public that he has been reformed. He seemed serious in his newfound devotion, busy attending religious gatherings across the country to announce how God changed his life.

According to today’s top pound-for-pound fighter, he had a vision in which the Lord appeared and told him to repudiate all his vices. He said God also told him to retire from boxing.

As he heeds God’s call, studying the Holy Bible has become Pacquiao’s new pastime. He reportedly sold his businesses that have something to do with vices. His vast tract of land in his hometown has become a virtual ‘ghost farm’ after he sold thousands of fighting cocks.

Of course, many were elated by this sudden turn around. Even the Catholic Church, through the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, named Pacquiao the “Bible Ambassador,” cashing in on his unprecedented popularity and influence among the youth.

But here’s the rub. He is still fighting in the ring in a brutal profession that goes against the Christian way of life. While clamor for him to hang up the gloves are mounting, he said he still has an unfinished business to attend to in the four-corner arena. So retirement has to wait.

If Pacquiao truly wanted to be a genuine messenger of God, he should immediately retire from boxing. It will be an awkward sight to behold if Pacquiao’s right hand busies itself flipping through the pages of the Bible while his left keeps on knocking his opponents out.

Boxing is truly a blood sport that the Church has long wanted to disband. If God had indeed told him to go away from it, Pacquiao has no reason to continue this fistic career.

Obviously, boxing and preaching just don’t mix.