Manny Pacquiao has endured some exceptional wars against the likes of Erik Morales, Juan Manuel Marquez, Timothy Bradley, Miguel Cotto and plenty of others throughout his boxing career. But the Senator from the Philippines is helping battle something that is potentially more dangerous than slugging it out inside of the squared circle.
The coronavirus pandemic has spread across the entire world, with CBS News reporting as of Sunday afternoon that almost 312,000 cases have been confirmed worldwide, causing over 13,000 deaths. Out of those, 380 cases are from the Philippines with 25 deaths. By himself, Pacquiao has helped pay for 50,000 testing kits and 700,000 face masks from China to try and combat the disease. Pacquiao doesn't care if he's putting himself at risk and possibly exposing himself while in public. Boxing's only eight-division world champion isn't 'afraid to die' for his countrymen and willing to do anything to ensure their safety.
"You have to lead and let people see that you are with them," Pacquiao told Sports.MB.com. "You must not hide because you are afraid of dying. I grew up poor. I know what they (poor people) feel."
Pacquiao is coming off of a rebound year in 2019 where he routed Adrien Broner in January and followed that performance by capturing the WBA (Super) welterweight title against Keith Thurman in July. It appeared that the 41-year-old was primed for another massive fight in 2020 with a rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr., a title unification against Errol Spence Jr. or a showdown with Mikey Garcia all being discussed as options.
However, until the pandemic is defeated and his country is back to good health, boxing is on the backburner for the "Pac-Man."
"This is the first thing we need to pay attention to," Pacquiao said.