Breaking: Manny Pacquiao announces his retirement

By Boxing News - 09/20/2021 - Comments

By Chris Williams: Manny Pacquiao has announced his retirement from boxing as of Monday following his decision to run for the presidency of the Philippines in March. For Pacquiao, his retirement ends his 26-year career in the ring, which began in 1995.

It comes as no real surprise to many fans that the 42-year-old Pacquiao (62-8-2, 39 KOs) has decided to hang up the gloves because he’s got an excellent chance of winning the presidential election in the Philippines.

If Pacquiao wins the election, his boxing career would be over with anyway. He’s not going to keep fighting while in office because he would be inviting tons of criticism from his constituents.

My boxing career is over. I’ve been boxing for a long time, and my family would always tell me it’s time to stop. I was a kid selling bread before. If I told you I’d be world champion and known all over the world? You’d say that seems impossible,” said Pacquiao to @ToniGonline

Pacquiao isn’t exactly hurting for money as he walks away from the sport. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Pacquiao has an estimated net worth of $220 million. That’s not quite as much as Floyd Mayweather Jr’s net worth of $450 million, but it’s a good chunk of change for Pacquiao.

Image: Breaking: Manny Pacquiao announces his retirement

If Pacquiao wins the presidential spot in the Philipines, he won’t do bad with that paying job, especially if he gets reelected.

This announcement means that Pacquiao won’t be attempting to avenge his loss to WBA ‘Super World’ welterweight champion Yordenis Ugas from last month on August 21st.

It’s perhaps for the better that Pacquiao not face Ugas again, as few boxing fans believed him capable of beating the talented Cuban at this point in his career.

You can make a strong argument that Pacquiao should have retired two years ago after his win over WBA welterweight champion Keith Thurman in July 20019.

That would have been the ideal time for Pacquiao to hang up his gloves on a high note instead of a loss to Ugas. What may have hurt Pacquiao’s chances of beating Ugas was his decision to sit idle for the last two years before fighting him.

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If Manny had stayed active, he would have put a better performance and maybe beaten Ugas. It still wouldn’t have been easy because Ugas is in the prime of his career, and he’s got power in both hands.

Pacquiao wasn’t even fighting a healthy version of Ugas, as he had a left bicep injury that he fought with, and that limited him to punching with mostly his right hand.

Manny’s long-time trainer Freddie Roach probably won’t take the news well of him retiring from the sport. Pacquiao had brought many different fighters into Roach’s camp, wanting to be trained by him due to his connection with the Filipino star.

Manny has been great for Roach in recruiting fighters to be trained by him. Unfortunately, now that Pacquiao has retired, it might not be the same for Roach.