Opinion: There’s Something About Manny

Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed below are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sherdog.com, its affiliates and sponsors or its parent company, Evolve Media.

Once upon a time, Manny Pacquiao was one of the most beloved boxers in the universe. The combination of a warm personality outside the ring and the heart of a stone-cold killer inside it made Pacquiao a fan favorite.

However, the Filipino superstar is not quite the man we used to know. He’s no longer the human wrecking machine that decimated opponents through numerous weight classes. Look, he hasn’t scored a knockout victory since he stopped Miguel Cotto all the way back in 2009. That warm, welcoming personality of his hasn’t so much shifted as it has been influenced by his religion; and that has led to Pacquiao’s recent controversy in which the soon-to-be-retired boxer stated that homosexuals were “worse than animals.”

The smiles he put on so many fans across the world has now tilted into a face of confusion and insult. How could a man who appears to be so loving say something so hurtful? Well, as Pacquiao tells it, those are God’s words, not his.

“I rather obey the Lord’s command than obeying the desires of the flesh,” the boxer wrote on his Instagram. “I’m not condemning anyone, but I’m just telling the truth of what the Bible says. The truth from the Bible is what changed me from my old ways.”

There should be emphasis on “his old ways.” It’s interesting how much Pacquiao has changed since 2009, and a lot of it has to do with his devotion to God’s word. Before he gave his life to God, Pacquiao was reportedly a womanizer, party animal and an excessive gambler. However, it also translated into Pacquiao destroying his opponents in the ring. He was all about everything but his family and religion. It helped him become the man he is today but almost destroyed everything close to him. Somewhere around his third fight with Juan Manuel Marquez -- the one that many thought Marquez won by decision -- Pacquiao’s life outside the ring collided with the one inside it. His wife, Jinkee, couldn’t deal with his ways any longer and allegedly gave him an ultimatum: either his current lifestyle or his family and God.

Pacquiao, who had already earned a great deal of money and lived life to the fullest, decided to devote his life to family and Christianity. Since then, he has become a different fighter and a different person. No longer is he out to destroy. In his interviews, you can see that he has compassion for his opponents and doesn’t look to leave them unconscious like he did Ricky Hatton. That killer instinct is gone because, frankly, Pacquiao is no longer a killer.

He has become a man of the people, as evidenced by his run in politics and as an elected member of the Philippine House of Representatives. In May, he’ll leave boxing behind for a full-time political career as he runs for a senate seat.

That’s great for Pacquiao the individual. He clearly doesn’t possess the selfish passion for boxing that helped him become the sport’s only eight-division champion. That’s fine. Everyone loses that passion sooner or later. However, his devotion to God, as great as it should be, has become problematic, and his recent comments demonstrate why.

Being a conservative Christian has instilled Pacquiao with certain beliefs on which he stands extremely firm. One of them is same-sex relationships. He has been tied to comments against homosexuals in the past, so this one shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. The problem is that Pacquiao is now stuck straddling a fence because he has fans who love him for his boxing prowess and not for his devotion to his religion. His comments are his beliefs, but as a politician, he has to do things like apologize when he doesn’t really mean it.

“I’m sorry for everyone who got hurt due to my comparison of gay people (homosexuals) to animals,” Pacquiao said in his apology. “It was my mistake. Please forgive me for those who I’ve hurt.” It all sounds good, until he follows with this: “But this does not change my position against same sex marriage. That’s what I believe. My only mistake is comparing gay people to animals.”

This is the quintessential sorry-not-sorry response.

With one fight left before he rides off into a political career, Pacquiao may not enter the ring against Timothy Bradley on April 9 as a fan favorite. He may have alienated a great deal of his fan base with those comments, but perhaps not; we have short-term memories, so all may be forgiven by then.

The reality is, for better or worse, the Pacquiao that will face Bradley is not the Pacquiao we remember. He’s a much different person and a far cry from the guy most fight fans grew to love. Whether he wins or loses really doesn’t matter. Honestly, it’s best that this is his last fight because we will never see the Pacquiao we once knew. We’ll never see the Pacquiao we thought could have handed Floyd Mayweather Jr. his first professional loss.

What you will be watching in April is a different Pacquiao. Like it or not, his old ways are long gone, and what’s left is the version we see now. Take that however you want.

Andreas Hale is a content producer for Jay Z’s LifeandTimes.com and editor-in-chief of PremierWuzHere.com, as well as a frequent Sherdog.com columnist. Check out his archive here.