By Matt Lieberman: Sean Gibbons, the president of Manny Pacquiao Promotions, says the Filipino superstar has NOT retired from boxing yet, despite his remarks during an interview on Sunday about ending his 26-year pro career. Pacquiao could have “one more fight,” said Gibbons to ESPN.
Gibbons said to ESPN on Monday that Pacquiao isn’t retired until he makes an official statement on social media. Until then, it’s just hearsay.
Pacquiao appeared to be very clear this week about his intentions to retire from the sport, as he feels it’s time to move in another direction with his life.
Last Sunday, Pacquiao told interviewer Toni Gonzaga that his “boxing career is already over. It’s done because I’ve been in boxing for a long time and my family says that it is enough,”
“I just continued [to fight] because I’m passionate about the sport.”
The former eight-division world champion Pacquiao (62-8-2, 39 KOs) will be running for the presidency of the Philippines next March, and he could win the election.
Manny’s career as a boxer will end at that point, which means he’s got very little time to slip in one last fight if he chooses to return to the ring.
Pacquiao will decide on his career soon
“In the coming weeks, the senator will decide how he’s going to finish his professional boxing career,” Gibbons said to ESPN.
“After the fight and recently, he’s discussed retiring [or] maybe one more [fight]. He’s just talking out loud about different situations.”
Gibbons mentioned in an interview that he would like to see Pacquiao go out with a bang by ending his career with a fight against former four-division world champion Mikey Garcia.
Pacquiao vs. Garcia would be a winnable fight for the Filipino superstar, and it would attract a lot of fans. Mikey is fighting next month against Sandor Martin on October 16th in the main event on DAZN.
Should Mikey win the fight against Sandor in an impressive fashion and not suffer any injuries, a match between him and Pacquiao would be an excellent option for the Filipino star before the end of the year.
Pacquiao lost his last fight to Yordenis Ugas on August 21st in a 12 round unanimous decision defeat in Las Vegas. It was a competitive match, but Pacquiao’s mobility wasn’t there for him.
He complained afterward that he had a leg cramping problem that had slowed him from the fourth round.
Pacquiao will be turning 43 in December, and he hasn’t won a fight since his 12 round decision over WBA welterweight champion Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman in July 2019.
Manny not retired until it’s announced
“Until you see it officially come out on his Twitter or Instagram, he isn’t retired,” Gibbons said of Pacquiao.
“Once you see it on a platform like that, it’s official. Anything else is just talk about what his thoughts are in the moment. It’s coming from him, but it’s hearsay.”
Five years ago, Pacquiao said he was retiring from boxing after his win over Tim Bradley in April 2016, but then he came back to defeat WBO 147-lb champion Jessie Vargas later in the same year in November.
This means that regardless of what Pacquiao says at times about wanting to retire, the possibility of him changing his mind to return to the ring will always be there.
You can understand why Pacquiao would want to continue fighting, given the lucrative fight offers he’s continually being given. More than that, Pacquiao likes to compete, and he’s still capable of fighting at a high level despite his advancing age.
Pacquiao had been scheduled to face IBF/WBC welterweight champion Errol ‘The Truth’ Spence Jr. on August 21st, but the fight fell apart after Errol suffered an eye injury in sparring during training camp.
Spence was replaced by WBA welterweight champion Yordenis Ugas two weeks before the fight, leaving Pacquiao very little time to prepare for the different fighting styles of the Cuban fighter.