Manny Pacquiao yet to make decision on retirement says MP Promotions chief

Manny Pacquiao is not yet retiring says his business manager. John Locher/AP (file photo)

By Ivan Saldajeno

MANILA—Manny Pacquiao seemed to have announced his boxing retirement when he told singer-actress Toni Gonzaga about the said move on her vlog.

However, his business partner says nothing has been cast in stone yet.

MP Promotions president Sean Gibbons said on Tuesday that Pacquiao has yet to ultimately decide if he is going to call it a career in boxing which has become his bread and butter since his teenage years.

"The senator is a presidential candidate and has made no decision on boxing career yet. He in the next few weeks will make a final decision whether to have one more fight or retire," Gibbons said as relayed to Yahoo Sports' Kevin Iole.

Gibbons added that Pacquiao will formally make his announcement in all his social media accounts.

Iole later reported that according to another person privy of the situation, Pacquiao is not yet retiring despite what he told Gonzaga.

In a tell-all interview which premiered on Sunday, Pacquiao said that he will retire if he wins next year's presidential election.

"Tapos na yung boxing career ko," the 42-year-old Pacquiao curtly replied Gonzaga when asked about his future boxing plans assuming he wins the presidency.

The video surfaced moments after he essentially declared his intent to run for president by accepting the standard bearer role given to him by his PDP-Laban faction.

On when he will indeed retire from boxing remains to be seen, but a place in the Boxing Hall of Fame is likely to be reserved for Pacquiao, the only boxer to win world titles in eight different divisions from flyweight to junior middleweight.

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