The man is fidgety, clearly overwhelmed by the moment. Pacquiao nods, and the woman brings a young Filipino man to Pacquiao's side and introduces him. An undercurrent of fear runs just under the surface everyone around Pacquiao, no matter the role, is on the front lines along with him.Īfter Pacquiao finishes eating breakfast, a woman approaches the table and speaks to him quietly in Tagalog. As Pacquiao's focus has turned more and more from boxing to politics, Duterte's threats - real and implied - have begun to intensify. As Pacquiao, one of 24 Philippine senators and a soon-to-be presidential candidate, wades deeper into the world of his country's politics, with its history of patronage and unsteady alliances, he finds himself in a situation nobody could have imagined a few years ago: at war with President Rodrigo Duterte. The risks are high, even dangerous, and they go beyond what will take place in the ring. The swirl of uncertainty and unease, the jockeying for position within the Pacquiao hierarchy - always vigorous - has ramped up. And, as Pacquiao prepares for his next phase, so do the people around him. More people than ever stood outside the Wild Card gym in Hollywood to see him come and go. More people than ever crowded the Griffith parking lot to hold up their phones and record the workouts and stand in line for autographs. Wendell Alinea/MP PromotionsĪs Pacquiao prepares for Saturday's fight against Ugas, a fill-in for Errol Spence Jr., the aura around him has taken on a ceremonial air. "A freakin' banana." Saturday's bout against Yordenis Ugas is likely the end of Pacquiao's time in the ring and, for the 42-year-old, the beginning of a new fight. ![]() ![]() "You know what he eats on a cheat day?" Gibbons asks. It's their joke - every day Pacquiao eats the same food, every day Gibbons asks the same question. His manager, Sean Gibbons, asks, "Senator, what's for breakfast? Chicken and rice?" Pacquiao smiles, bounces his eyebrows up and down like butterfly wings. Pacquiao lifts his head and opens his eyes. As always, there is a low hum of activity surrounding him: people in the kitchen cleaning up, people in the backyard standing over grills preparing to cook the next meal, people out front making sure the unauthorized don't find their way onto the property. will happen Yordenis Ugas is being overlookedĪfter his morning workout, as the steak and chicken and rice are placed in front of him, Pacquiao dips his head, closes his eyes and says a silent prayer. It would put the Kardashians out of business.") Editor's Picks "Propose a reality show of Team Pacquiao. Others run with Pacquiao, from the bottom of the hill to the parking lot, up the fire road to the top near the Hollywood sign, then back down to the parking lot, more than 6 miles total, one of them carrying a massive Philippine flag and another a portable speaker that always seems to be blasting "Eye of the Tiger." ("You want to get rich?" a member of his team asks with exasperation. ![]() Some arrive at the Griffith Park Observatory parking lot before dawn to rope off two areas, one for agility work and a tree-shaded one for ab work. In the weeks ahead of Pacquiao's fight against Yordenis Ugas, which he is again saying might be his last match, they do laundry and chauffeur and stand watch. The cooks and cleaners and helpers - affectionately known as "The Boys" - reconvened in Los Angeles to cook and clean and help. He was out of the ring for more than two years, but the machine has picked up right where it left off. Inside, a man in a T-shirt and loose basketball shorts - the uniform of Team Pacquiao - stands next to the boss, cutting a grilled chicken breast and an extremely well-done porterhouse with a pair of kitchen scissors. In the backyard of his luxurious and incredibly occupied home in Los Angeles, men and women work grills and carry plates and tend to the line of rice cookers. ![]() As everything around Manny Pacquiao moves - quickly, and solely for his benefit - he remains fixed, a stone in the center of a stream. HE IS A quiet man, content to observe, and his manner gives him the air of the mystic. 29 he announced that he has officially retired from boxing and will run for president in the Philippines. Editor's note: This story was originally published ahead of Manny Pacquiao's final fight, a loss to Yordenis Ugas on Aug.
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