Manny Pacquiao wants to prove ‘not all 40 year olds are finished’ by beating Keith Thurman
- ‘Exercise is my favourite,’ says fighting Filipino senator, who plays basketball four hours per day and always keeps in ‘great shape’
- ‘I feel in my heart … I need to get back what I did in the last 15 years of my career,’ Pacquiao says ahead of clash with unbeaten American Thurman
Manny Pacquiao has said he’ll be doing it for all the 40 year olds when he goes to war with Keith Thurman in Las Vegas on July 20.
The Filipino boxing icon is an eight-time division world champion but will be the underdog for the first time since his 2015 fight against Floyd Mayweather when he challenges for Thurman’s WBA super welterweight belt.
Trading verbal jabs with the 30-year-old Thurman (29-0, 22 KOs) in an appearance on Fox’s Inside PBC Boxing, which aired on Monday night, Pacquiao (61-7-2, 39 KOs) said being the underdog gives him more motivation, however.
“Every time that I get negative [things said] against me it gives me more to focus on and work hard for,” he said. “The mindset of fans or boxing analysts, when you get to the age of 40 you become lazy or like that and your career is over.
“This is the time I want to prove not all 40 year olds are over, their careers finished. Exercise is my favourite, beside boxing I always exercise, I play basketball four hours a day. I keep in shape all the time.”