By Chris Williams: With high profile athletes it’s sometimes sad to see them wearing down like an old clock as they get older in a sport. It’s sometimes better to see them go out while they’re still somewhat at the peak of their game, which is why I think Manny Pacquiao should consider retiring now while he’s still somewhat near the top of his game and not taking loses every time out.

The loss to Tim Bradley showed quite clearly that Pacquiao is fading and starting to lose his skills. I had already spotted Pacquiao’s decline over three fights ago, but many of Pacquiao’s fans have been blinded and not seen what I’ve seen.

At 33, which is old for a fighters, Pacquiao has come to the point where he can’t do a lot of the same things he used to do in the past. The old legs don’t move him around the ring like he used to, and he can’t pull the trigger as quick anymore when he sees an opening. I think Pacquiao needs to maybe move on to his preaching, political or acting career so that he can spread himself out over those activities. But boxing is a young man’s sport and you have to have total focus if you want to be successful.

I don’t think Pacquiao being scattered as being the reason for his loss to Bradley, but it certainly didn’t help him. I think the loss came down to a few factors:

* Old age
* Poor boxing fundamentals
* Less than optimal conditioning
* A poor game plan

I think Pacquiao could have beaten Bradley if he had the right trainer telling him what to do and training him differently. He needed a trainer that would push him hard in training so that he could work at a high pace for three minutes of every round. In the little bit of sparring I saw Pacquiao doing in getting ready for the Bradley fight, he looked like he was half stepping it and not sparring all out. I’m sorry but that’s not how you get ready to fight a young fighter, and I blame that on Pacquiao and his trainer.

So what Pacquiao need to do? Here are the options:

* Retire
* Dump trainer Freddie Roach
* Dump strength and conditioning trainer Alex Ariza
* Put aside his extra curricular activities and focus exclusively on boxing.