In two weeks, Manny Pacquiao will fight Floyd Mayweather Jr in the richest — and probably the most hyped — prizefight in history. The boxers are expected to “divide around $300 million for a 12-round fight that will take less than an hour.” Simply watching the fight on TV will cost $99.95 and tickets, which have not been printed yet, are going for an average of nearly $12,000.
Considering that Mayweather has never been defeated in 37 fights, you might think Pacquiao would be totally consumed with boxing. But he’s got some other things on his mind.
Pacman takes precious time out from his training to share his thoughts on Mindanao peace. @OPAPP_peace pic.twitter.com/NiQq44juCj
— MiriamCoronelFerrer (@mcoronelferrer) April 19, 2015
Pacquiao isn’t just a boxer, he’s also a congressman in his native country of the Phillippines. He met this weekend with Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, the representative of the Phillippines in their negotiations with a separatist group called the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
The MILF is an Islamist rebel group which has been seeking autonomy in the Philippines since the 1970s. During the last five decades more “than 120,000 people have died in separatist violence.” Major progress was made in March 2014, when a preliminary peace accord was reached. But violence has persisted “with recent battles having left dozens dead and driven more than 82,000 people from their homes.”
During his meeting with Coronel-Ferrer, Pacquiao expressed support for “Bangsamoro Basic Law” — a legal framework which would create a new entity for the Muslim minority represented by MILF with a degree of autonomy from the Filipino government. Pacquiao’s endorsement is no small thing in the Philippines. His popularity in the country is off-the-charts — and, now more than ever, the nation is hanging on his every word.
Pacquiao’s use of the spotlight for political expression is a throwback to an earlier era — when boxers like Muhammed Ali were major political figures. Pacquiao has embraced a minimum wage increase but is also known for strong socially conservative views driven by his religious faith — he opposed a reproductive health bill and has spoken out against same-sex marriage. He’s also been criticized for poor attendance as a congressman as he pursues his boxing career.
Mayweather has taken a different approach, posting a video of his new car on Instagram on Saturday with this caption: “I just added a new toy to my car collection. 2016 Mercedes-Maybach S600. $210,000.00.” Another Instagram video posted Saturday showed Mayweather counting a large amount of money while wearing a hat emblazoned “$1M.”