On July 20, the 40-year-old Filipino icon, Manny Pacquiao will climb into the ring for the 71st time when he faces Keith Thurman at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand, aiming to capture the undefeated American’s World Boxing Association “super” welterweight crown.
Pacquiao will reportedly receive $20 million for the Thurman fight, and banked $10 million from his January defeat of Adrien Broner, paydays that will keep the free-spending show firmly on the road.
But how much longer Pacquiao (61-7-2, 39 knockouts) is willing to put his body on the line to generate those kinds of numbers is anyone’s guess.
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His retirement in 2016 proved short-lived, Pacquiao returning to the ring seven months later.
“Boxing is my passion,” Pacquiao tells AFP. “It’s really hard to stop and hang up the gloves when you know that you can still fight. My mind is very active, 100 percent focused and wants to continue my career. But sometimes I have to listen to my body.”
Veteran promoter Bob Arum recently voiced concern that Pacquiao risked serious injury by fighting into his 40s. Pacquiao, who no longer works with Arum, says the fears for his safety are misplaced.
“He cares about me, I understand what he’s saying,” Pacquiao said of Arum’s remarks. “But I’m not the only one who has fought at this age. George Foreman, other boxers who fought when they’re 47 years old or 50 years old. I’m not saying that at age 47 or 50 I’m going to still be fighting. No. But it depends how you discipline yourself, how you work hard.”
Pacquiao’s longtime trainer, Freddie Roach, hopes that Pacquiao will stick to an agreement the two men made several years ago, namely that when the 59-year-old cornerman believes it is time for him to retire, he will heed the advice and hang up his gloves.
“I think that agreement might have been made too long ago,” Roach says. “Because I think that even if I do say ‘Manny it’s time to quit, you’ve lost a step, you’re not the old Manny Pacquiao,’ there’s too many people around him who will tell him that I’m full of sh*t, and he may listen to them.
“At one time I’d have said our agreement was pretty solid and he’d listen to me. But today I’m not so sure.”
