MANNY PACQUIAO was hailed as ‘the champion of our hearts’ by his emotional wife Jinkee.
It came after the boxing legend was beaten on his return to the ring by Yordenis Ugas over the weekend in Las Vegas.
Pacquiao admitted the loss has left him contemplating retirement, but his wife could not be any prouder of her iconic husband.
Jinkee wrote on Instagram: “Words cannot express how proud I am of the man you are.
“I’m proud to be your wife, you mean the world to me and all our children. We love you so much.
“We your family have seen how much you have toiled, sacrificed and given of yourself blood sweat and tears since the beginning when you dreamed of becoming world champion.
“You never think of yourself and not afraid to risk your life on the ring time and time again because you love to make the people happy.
“You have achieved by the Grace of God far more than you ever imagined. Yet you never stop working to be your best.”
Pacquiao, 42, had not fought since July 2019, the night he beat American Keith Thurman, 32, to win the WBA belt.
But amid the coronavirus pandemic, he was sidelined as as a result, was stripped of his belt.
PacMan was then due to challenge for Errol Spence Jr’s WBC and IBF unified belts.
But then Spence, 31, was ruled out with an eye injury, prompting Ugas, 35, to fill in with the Cuban initially featuring on the undercard.
Pacquiao, who was left needing EIGHT stitches, was later beaten on points, in his 72nd and quite possibly final fight.
He told ESPN: “Right now, probably thinking about retirement. I don’t know, percentage is 60/40.
“My performance tonight was not really 100 per cent because it happened in the second or third round; I have cramping in both legs.
“I cannot move. So if my legs are not hurt, I can outbox him by moving fast, side by side. But it happened my legs stopped.”
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Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
