Manny Pacquiao reiterates that he has no plans of fighting anymore after his April 9 clash with Timothy Bradley Jr. at the MGM Grand Garden.
The Filipino boxing icon clarified that there was no truth to the rumor that he had plans to fight after his third meeting with Bradley Jr., claiming he never said anything about foregoing his retiring via Philboxing.com.
That, of course, is up for debate. There are a couple of things up in the air that somehow conflicts with that claim.
One is that a prior report claims that he and promoter Bob Arum have agreed not to market the Bradley fight as his last.
And then there is that guy named Floyd Mayweather Jr. whom Pacquiao is obviously aching to fight again. In the event that the undefeated Mayweather suddenly has a change of heart, will that not draw him back to the ring?
His current stand could be a ploy to make sure that potential Filipino voters will stay the course and support him. Pacquiao had already been hit by his poor attendance in congress and should he win a senate seat, his schedule will be more hectic.
Then again, retirement can always be temporary. Boxers have been known to announce such, only to return at some point to fight again. One example is Shane Mosley who is currently on the comeback trail.
Aside from that, Arum and trainer Freddie Roach are not buying the retirement angle. For the two long-time Pacquiao associates, it seems hard to believe that Pacquiao will not fight again.
Whatever his plans are, only Pacquiao knows what he plans to do in the future. It could be his swan song on April 9 or then again maybe just a pit stop with hope that he gets what he really wants — a rematch with Mayweather.
