Manny Pacquiao Vows To Spread Message Of God Amid Talk of Floyd Mayweather Super Bout

Manny Pacquiao is eager to spread a message. No, the message is not about his next fight after handily defeating Chris Algieri in Macau last Sunday. It is not another challenge directed at Floyd Mayweather, Jr. In fact, it is not about boxing.

Prior to his fight with Algieri, Pacquiao granted an interview with Yahoo Sports where he talked eagerly about a subject matter poles apart from boxing or any other worldly pursuit.

Speaking to Yahoo Sports' Kevin Iole in Macau, Pacquiao said the message he wants to spread is the message of God. "It's important for me – for all of us – to spread the message," the multi-faceted boxing champion said.

"People need to understand His Word. Imagine if God is with you, you lack nothing, you need nothing," he added with firm conviction.

In his younger days, Pacquiao was not as spiritual as he is now although he was raised as a Roman Catholic by his mother. In fact, Pacquiao admitted that he was once a gambler and a womanizer, spending the money he earned from boxing by indulging in worldly pleasures.

Things drastically changed in November 2011 after his third fight with Juan Manuel Marquez which he won by split decision.

Pacquiao said this was the time when he had a conversion. Interviewed by Kevin Mitchell of the Observer last month, the Filipino boxing icon said he "heard the voice of God" which made him tremble and melt from the inside. "I felt I have died. It was an amazing, amazing experience," he said.

"I changed when I heard the voice of God," Pacquiao said. "I saw two angels, white, long, big wings. I saw Paradise. God showed me about the end of time. This all happened within the last three years. That's how I changed my life."

This marked the day when he became a "born again" evangelical Christian.

"I'm happy because I found the right way, salvation, born again," he said. "We are required to be born again, all of us. Christ said unless we are born again we cannot enter the kingdom of God. So it's very important to me. Jesus Christ said: 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.' There is no other way. The only way is through Jesus."

A month later, in the interview by Yahoo Sports, Pacquiao retold the story of his conversion. He said he knows that many people don't believe him and snicker at him when his back is turned every time he tells the story of how God spoke to him directly.

He said this doesn't bother him. "In my life, I've been graced to hear the word of God," Pacquiao said. "If they believe me or not, it's up to them ... This is my life's work, to spread the Word."

As everyone knows, Pacquiao is not only a boxer but also a lawmaker representing his native Sarangani province in the Philippines. Recently, he also became the playing coach of a professional team in the Philippine Basketball Association.

But more than anything else, Pacquiao's main preoccupation these days is to spread the Word of God as a pastor.

He is currently building a church, school and community center on 5.7 acres of prime real estate in General Santos City, the Philippines. "If we're going to build a house to praise the Lord, why build a small one? We want to build a big one so that we can help as many people as we can," Pacquiao said.

"What we're doing by building this church is obeying what the Bible says," Pacquiao said. "We're going to feed the poor, help the widows, and teach and inspire the children about the greatness of the Lord. That's what we're told to do and that's what I am doing," he added.

According to his adviser, Michael Koncz, Pacquiao is intimately involved in the project, even doing more architectural work than the project's architect. The project is expected to cost $5 million when it is finished.

Koncz said the church that Pacquiao is building will be his legacy to his people. "When Manny's gone, this church will still be around," he said.