IF we were to believe Manny Pacquiao’s astute trainer Freddie Roach, then the Filipino eight-division world champion may just finally contemplate retirement if he fails to perform well against Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios in their 12-round welterweight title rumble in Macau on November 24.
Roach said that if his ward’s comeback fight “does not go well” – meaning should Pacquiao fight like a worn-out boxer, or worse, if he suffers a bad loss – then they will “seriously talk about his retirement.”
The celebrated Hall-of-Fame trainer even declared that should that happen, he would be the first to tell the Fighter of the Decade to finally quit the sport.
“We have an agreement that as soon as I tell him that, he will retire,” said Roach.
Even the legendary TOP Rank promoter Bob Arum did not mince words when he said the Rios bout could mean everything for the Filipino boxing icon.
“It will certainly hurt him if he loses this fight. It may signify the end. It will be very devastating for him,” said Arum.
Pacquiao (54-5-2, 38 knockouts) knows by heart that he needs to put on an impressive performance and beat Rios convincingly to return to the upper-echelon of boxing.
Clearly, a sensational win against Rios (31-1-1, 23 knockouts) will enable him to rehabilitate his career.
Pacquiao is coming off successive defeats in his last two fights: against Timothy Bradley in a much-criticized judges’ decision, and then a knockout at the hands of Juan Manuel Marquez last December.
Damage
But it’s the knockout loss to Marquez that may have inflicted the biggest damage. The brutal nature of the knockout, when Pacquiao was nailed by a perfectly timed hammerblow right counter, and fell face first to the canvas with one second left in the sixth round, raised questions about whether he should continue fighting or retire for good.
So, obviously, a third successive defeat at the hands of Rios would be a big no-no for Pacquiao.
There are three great motivations for Pacquiao to win against the roughousing Mexican-American, himself a world champion: a grudge rematch with Bradley, who won a hugely controversial split decision over him in June last year; a possible fifth meeting with Marquez anytime next year; and, of course, the prospect of a blockbuster fight against reigning pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr that may happen in the second half of 2014.
The fighting congressman is now entering the final stretch of his Spartan-like training referred to by Roach as “one of their best trainings.”
Arum, likewise, said he had never seen Pacquiao so determined and focused in training since he faced Oscar Dela Hoya in 2008.
The 34-year-old Pacquiao said he is training as if he’s in his 20s – and as if he wants to tell Rios that the rapid-punching, hard-hitting ring dynamo who stormed through a handful of weight classes and regarded as one of the best fighters of his generation is looking for blood come fight night.
Pacquiao is pressured to win impressively against Rios, who is seven years younger and 1.5 inches taller than the five foot 6.5 inches (1.69 metres) Filipino southpaw.
According to Roach, Rios should expect to face a fighter better than the man who pulverized De La Hoya, annihilated Ricky Hatton and battered Miguel Cotto.
In fact, Roach wants his ward to knock out Rios cold in the fifth or sixth round, especially after Rios had earlier bragged that he would go for the kill and send Pacquiao into retirement.
