AFTER months of insisting his fight with Timothy Bradley on Saturday night will be his last, Manny Pacquaio is now unsure whether he will retire after it or not.
Currently 1-1 in their rivalry, the pair meet at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Speaking ahead of the fight, Pacquiao did not give a definitive answer on his proposed retirement, but did maintain that he will focus on his political career after the fight.
“After this fight I have already said that my mind is to focus on my job. If I win a Senate seat I have a big responsibility and I need to focus on that,” he said.
“I cannot say right now that I am going to retire. I don’t want to say that because I don’t know what the feeling is when you leave boxing. I will give it great thought when I return home.
“My mind right now says to retire, but we don’t know.”
This will be Bradley’s second fight with new trainer Teddy Atlas, after his ninth-round stoppage of Brandon Rios in November.
Pacquiao has not fought since his drab decision loss to Floyd Mayweather last May due to a shoulder injury he aggravate during the fight.
Manny feels Bradley’s new partnership and his own hiatus will help make this third meeting between them a memorable one.
“Bradley has a new trainer for this fight and a new game plan and I am very excited for that because we will see more action in the ring in this fight,” he opined.
“Right now I have been working on my right hand and my right hook which is very good. My left hand is still good, but my right shoulder is healed and that is good, because I can use it with real power.
“We had a lot of time to exercise for this fight. We had a lot of time to train and all I can say is training camp was great and I am ready for the fight and everything is great.
“That is one thing, it is good to have a long layoff in boxing – I feel fresh and new and I feel good now when I train every day. I really enjoyed this training camp.”
Pacquiao has not stopped an opponent since his destructive 12th-round finish of Miguel Cotto in 2009. He feels his 2010 drubbing of Antonio Margarito should have been stopped before the final bell, however.
He said: “I have thinking about the last knockout that I had was in the Cotto fight and I believe the Margarito fight should have been stopped.
“It was a long time ago. I am thinking about it [the knockout] and that’s why I work hard. Right now it is a good thing that I had a layoff – I feel excited and fresh in my body and I will try hard for it in this fight.”
Pacquiao also remained coy on the possibility of him fighting at the Olympics, having previously expressed an interest in participating in them after recommendations were made to allow professional boxers to enter the Games.
“After this fight I am going back to the Philippines to do my job and if they allow me to fight in the Olympics – I am not going to say that I am going to fight or that I am not,” he said.
“I am not closing the door and I am not committing to it – I am thinking about it.”
Premier Sports will screen Pacquiao versus Bradley in the UK on April 9. Click HERE for more
