FILIPINO boxing great Manny Pacquiao won’t be retiring soon.
Pacquiao, in fact, will be fighting one more time when he takes on reigning World Boxing Organization welterweight belt-owner Timothy Bradley for the third time in four years on April 9 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
The Filipino boxing icon has also expressed his wish for a rematch with Floyd Mayweather, who recently announced his retirement after compiling a perfect 49-0 record.
“I have been very vocal about it (fighting Mayweather), even before the Bradley fight was made official on New Year’s eve. The reason is simple, I want to end my 21-year boxing career with a big bang,” said Pacquiao when interviewed over the phone yesterday.
“And what would be the biggest fight to end a career than fighting the best and finest boxer at least in this era?” he added.
“We could have given that last May when we faced each other, but due to unavoidable circumstances, sports fans failed to get the results they wanted,” said Pacquiao, who is running for a Senate season in the May elections.
“Not that Floyd’s legacy and mine can still be questioned, but wouldn’t it be more colorful and meaningful closing our respective careers on higher notes at the same time putting an end, too, on the business we started but we were unable to finish?”
Pacquiao said his team selected Bradley as his next opponent following his loss to Mayweather, saying the WBO 147-pound champion, the erstwhile unbeaten American, known as the “Desert Storm,” is one of the best welterweights there is in the world.
Besides, unlike junior welterweight titleholder Terence “Bud” Crawford, Briton Amir Khan and up-and-coming Adrien Broner, Bradley, who beat him via a questionable split decision in June 2012, a loss which he avenged via an overwhelming unanimous verdict two years later, has already proven his worth as a PPV attraction.
The “Fighter of the Decade” honoree of the Boxing Writers Association of America added Bradley’s 9th-round stoppage of Brandon Rios last year also did it for the Californian fighter. Pacquiao only managed a unanimous decision triumph over Rios two years ago.
“So contrary to what some sectors believe, the choice of Bradley was not based solely on a business standpoint,” he explained. “There were many factors our team considered.”
“And the most important, of course, was what fight can give fans the enjoyment and excitement they expect, which, actually is my primary criteria in choosing an opponent,” Pacquiao pointed out. “Many, indeed, seemed dissatisfied with the choice, but what I can assure everybody is we made that decision having the interest of the boxing public in mind.”
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