Second retirement farthest from Manny’s mind
Manny Pacquiao, of the Philippines, celebrates after defeating Jessie Vargas in their WBO welterweight title boxing match, Saturday, Nov. 5, 2016, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken)
LAS VEGAS—Nearing 38 years old and running on high gear, Manny Paquiao thinks his gas reserves will last a long time.
“I’m still full tank,” Pacquiao told a small group of foreign and Filipino media Sunday (Monday in Manila) inside his plush suite at Wynn hotel here. “No slowing down.”
Hours after a convincing 12-round unanimous victory over Jessie Vargas at Thomas & Mack Center, Pacquiao said he isn’t thinking of retiring again.
What he has in mind is another fight when the Senate takes a break from March to May next year.
Against whom, Pacquiao doesn’t really care.
Whether it be Floyd Mayweather Jr., Terrence Crawford, Danny Garcia, Vasyl Lomachenko, he’ll fight them all.
“Just not at the same time,” Pacquiao joked.
Pacquiao is hopeful he can still fight at 40, citing the likes of George Foreman, the oldest heavyweight champion at 45; and Bernard Hopkins, the oldest man to win a world crown at 49.
Others who came into the picture were Roy Jones Jr., who won his last fight at 47; and Juan Manuel Marquez, who at 43 is contemplating on fighting again.
Turning biblical, Pacquiao said Moses was still strong at 120 years old.
“Right now, I feel better than my last fight (against Tim Bradley Jr.), ” said Pacquiao. “It must be better conditioning. I studied my body recovery.”
Having tasted the full punching power of a light middleweight when he tangled with Antonio Margarito, Pacquiao said he isn’t keen on fighting the bigger guys like Canelo Alvarez or Gennady Golovkin.
“154 (pounds) is too big for me,” said Pacquiao.
