Manny Pacquiao has refused to rule out his retirement from boxing after his much-awaited fight against Timothy Bradley on Apr. 9 at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas.
Pacquiao has always been adamant about retiring after the Pacquiao-Bradley III, which was dubbed as the Filipino boxing icon's last fight of his illustrious boxing career. However, in a recent interview with the AFP, the 24-year-old Pacquiao seemed to having second thoughts of hanging up his boxing gloves after the Bradley fight.
"I'm not saying. It's hard to say. At the moment I'm here training for the next fight. I cannot say yes or no. My decision is to go back to the Philippines and help the people," Pacquiao said, reports Inquirer Sports.
"I don't want to say something that you know we don't know yet. I don't know what the feeling is going to be like when I'm retired."
It is no secret that Pacquiao's main purpose to retire from boxing is because of his political career in the Philippines, where the boxer-turned-politician is bidding for a Senatorial seat.
However, there is a growing sense that Pacquiao would still fight in the boxing ring, especially if he lose in the country's upcoming national elections.
Many, including coach Freddie Roach and Top Rank Promotions CEO Bob Arum, believe the former-eight division titlist still has plenty of gas left in his tank. According to Arum, if Pacquiao would shy away from his retirement, the Filipino fighter could face WBC middleweight Saul "Canelo" Alvarez in his next fight.
"But if Manny wins, you know, Manny is the kinda guy that doesn't care about how much more an opponent weighs. So Manny would be happy to go in, say, with Canelo, if Canelo beat (Amir) Khan. That would be a really good fight," Arum told SB Nation.
Arum noted that for such bout to happen, Pacquiao must first win his match against the "Desert Storm," as well as Alvarez, who takes on British welterweight Amir Khan on May 7 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
While it would certainly intrigue boxing fans to see Pacquiao taking on the youthful Mexican, the chances are slim to none as Canelo is in line, if he wins against Khan, to defend his title belt against unified middleweight titlist Gennady Golovkin.