Manny Pacquiao on retirement: My heart is 50-50
Manny Pacquiao after winning his fight against Timothy Bradley Jr. via unanimous decision at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, April 9, 2016. PHOTO BY REM ZAMORA
LAS VEGAS—For now, the Manny Pacquiao roadshow is over.
There is hope, he concedes, that it may resume someday.
“Right now my decision is to retire, but who knows?” Pacquiao said during the postfight conference.
“My heart is fifty-fifty,” he said, when asked whether there is a possibility that he might return to the ring soon.
“Like I said, I committed to my family to get back home and spend more time with them. [I’d like to] focus to serve the people in the Philippines. That’s my priority.”
READ: Pacquiao sticks to retirement plan: ‘I made the decision’
Though happy that he won, Pacquiao, now 58-6-2, with 38 knockouts, said he actually went for a knockout: “Every round I was looking for a good shot and a knockout.”
As in their first two battles, however, Timothy Bradley Jr. (33-2-1) proved to be a tough opponent, and Pacquiao settled for the knockdowns he scored in the seventh and ninth rounds.
Until those two came, however, the Filipino ring icon never floored Bradley in their first 24 rounds of battle.
READ: Pacquiao beats Bradley in ‘last fight’
“Let me enjoy [my retirement] first. I am not there yet, so I don’t know what’s the feeling. I have made my decision.”
For now, he said, not even a grudge rematch with the now retired Floyd Mayweather Jr. can change his mind.
Based on Pacquiao’s form Saturday, trainer Freddie Roach said his prized ward still has some fights left in him.
Pacquiao agreed.
“My body is still okay,” said the only fighter to win world titles in eight divisions. “I can still give a good fight 100 percent. I am not lazy in training.”
Pacquiao attributed his ring resurgence to the 11-month long layoff he took following a surgery to repair a rotator cuff tear on his right shoulder.
“I feel fresh tonight. I’m excited like when I first fought in the United States in 2001.”
Pacquiao said he used the right hook to test whether it has completely healed.
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