MANNY PACQUIAO has confirmed he will run for president of the Philippines in 2022.
The 42-year-old is currently a senator in the nation’s parliament, but will aim to go a step further next year.
He has been nominated as a presidential candidate by a faction of the ruling party, PDP-Laban, it was announced on Sunday morning.
In a live-streamed speech during a national assembly, Pacquiao said: “I am a fighter, and I will always be a fighter inside and outside the ring.
“I am accepting your nomination as candidate for president of the Republic of the Philippines.”
Current president Rodrigo Duterte is blocked from another spell as leader after a six-year term, but has been picked by a rival faction of the party to run for vice-president.
And Duterte’s longtime friend, Christopher “Bong” Go, is nominated as their presidential candidate.
He declined the nomination, but there is a divide between his faction of the party and that of Pacquiao.
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The former eight-weight world champion has previously accused Duterte of corruption, and told him: “Your time is up.”
Despite Pacquiao’s popularity in the Philippines, he is currently way off the top of the opinion polls.
In the ring he has fought a whopping 72 times as a professional boxer.
Pacquiao has won 62 of those fights, with eight losses and two draws.
He was last in action just last month, but was beaten in heartbreaking fashion.
In July 2019, Pacquiao became the oldest welterweight world champion in history at the age of 40 after defeating Keith Thurman to win the WBA title.
That victory also made him the first boxer in history to become a recognised four-time welterweight champion.
