Former six-weight world boxing champion Manny
Pacquiao has been promoted to full Colonel of
the Philippines Army.
The 38-year-old took to Instagram to share his
news and posted several snaps of him posing
with members of the Army dressed in
camouflaged uniform.
Pacquiao wrote: ‘Today, I successfully defended
my Commandant’s paper to be promoted to a full
Colonel.’
The former welterweight champion is a military
reservist and was commissioned as Lieutenant
Colonel before going up in rank on Wednesday.
He is also currently the Philippines’ Senator
where he assumed office in June of last year.
His duties as a Filipino senator stopped him from
fighting Jeff Horn in a rematch last month after
the Australian beat Pacquiao in a contentious
unanimous decision to capture his world WBO
welterweight belt back in July.
Despite having several responsibilities in the
various different roles he is currently in,
Pacquiao is planning to return to the ring next
year and even recently hinted at fighting UFC
star Conor McGregor.
He took to Instagram in an effort to tease
McGregor into fighting him by posting a picture
of him and writing ‘Happy Thanksgiving! Stay fit
my friend. #realboxingmatch #2018’ earlier this
month
Pacquiao started boxing at the age of 14 while
living in the streets of Manila for some time. He
turned professional when he was 16 years old.
“Many of you know me as a legendary boxer, and
I’m proud of that,” he said. “However, that
journey was not always easy. When I was
younger, I became a fighter because I had to
survive. I had nothing. I had no one to depend on
except myself. I realized that boxing was
something I was good at, and I trained hard so
that I could keep myself and my family alive.
