When the ring lights fade, and the roar of the crowd dies away, the boxer becomes a man again.
In Manny Pacquiao?s case, that man is a politician and a religious icon who promotes family values through his social media accounts, urging us all to lead better lives by treasuring those close to us.
Snapshots of him praying, or with his wife Jinkee and their five children, form the staple diet of images that offer hope and direction to those who love him around the world.
Yet, it is clear that inside he cannot give up the thrill of violence, of the need to prove himself in a boxing ring.
The Filipino?s announcement that he will fight again came just three months after he retired following a decisive 12-round points victory over Timothy Bradley in Las Vegas.
Those who had hoped that he would end on that high will have greeted the news with a weary sigh.
Boxing fans have been here so many times before, with their heroes carrying on until the stubborn will that helped them soar is finally punched out of them by someone younger, stronger, or just better.
Muhammad Ali, Roberto Duran, Oscar De La Hoya, Julio Cesar Chavez and Joe Louis are some of the most well-known examples of boxers who convinced themselves that there was one last fight left in them until colliding with the most brutal kind of reality ? the truth.
There is no veterans? boxing circuit. And little need to punch a bag or skip rope once the threat of an impending opponent slips away. What channel has the boxer got for that primal urge once the gloves finally come off?
Pacquiao must now choose who to take on and the list is long and laced with potential danger. Adrien Broner and Jessie Vargas fall into the least challenging category, while Amir Khan and Keith Thurman offer stern but winnable tests.
But Terence Crawford just seems too hot to consider, and his showdown with Viktor Postol in Las Vegas on July 23 should tell us more about where the real future of the welterweight division lies. Pacquiao will not be part of that future, and even if he rolls the dice successfully this time, then his time at the top is close to the end.
Perhaps the most fitting fight would be a rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr, who won their long-awaited clash in May last year.
That contest lacked fire and Pacquiao would relish the chance to try and make amends, while Mayweather?s love of dollars would also be sated.
Yet for all the pair have done for boxing, the sport has moved on without them.
Gennady Golovkin, Crawford, Errol Spence and Vasyl Lomachenko are the new generation of stars even if they cannot command the kind of paydays that Pacquiao and Mayweather enjoyed.
Sergey Kovalev, Roman Gonzalez and Andre Ward are also names that excite, that give a nod to a bright future. Defeat for them would not be the stark finale that faces Pacquiao if his return flops. Perhaps we should just sit back and enjoy the show.
Pacquiao has given us some of the greatest nights in boxing history and could still add to his highlight reel with another exciting triumph.
The victory over Bradley tantalisingly suggests that he may not yet be a spent force for some time to come, and that he can somehow keep beating the clock at the age of 37, just as we all wish to do.
But what kind of man will be left when the gloves are finally put away?
Will it be the smiling, humble and noble warrior that we have loved over the years?
Or will it be the shuffling wreck of Ali, and the pointed stories about how The Greatest should have stopped long before being humiliated by Trevor Berbick in the Bahamas?
Pacquiao?s destiny is yet to be written, and his choice to continue is a real concern.
His legacy is already assured, and he only really has his health and future left to trade.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: TODAY?s guest boxing expert and former Bangkok Post deputy sports editor Julian Turner has covered fights from ringside in Europe, the US and Asia and interviewed many of the sport?s biggest names, including Manny Pacquiao twice. He has also been a contributor to British weekly magazine Boxing News for more than 20 years.
