Philippine boxing legend, national hero and politician Manny Pacquiao announced Sunday his plan to run for president in the May 2022 election.

Pacquiao announced his candidacy during a meeting of a rival faction of President Rodrigo Duterte's ruling PDP-Laban party in Quezon City.

The announcement by the eight-division world boxing champion comes weeks after he lost a professional fight against Yordenis Ugas of Cuba in Las Vegas.

Pacquiao, 42, has been a senator since 2016. He previously served two terms in the House of Representatives.

"I am a fighter and I will always be a fighter inside and outside the ring," Pacquiao was quoted by ABS-CBN News as saying after accepting nominations from around 20 PDP-Laban chapter leaders.

He vowed that he would fight poverty and corruption if elected president, saying Filipinos have waited too long to see progress.

Duterte will not be running for reelection because the Constitution limits the position of president to a single six-year term.

But there has been speculation that his eldest daughter Sara Duterte-Carpio, the mayor of Davao City, might run. He himself has said he will run as his political party's candidate in the vice presidential race.