The 2015 bout between boxing legends Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, famously billed as the "Fight of the Century" remains one of the most expensive battles in the history of the sport. After a six-year-long negotiation, the two icons took to court in Las Vegas and it was the undefeated American boxer, who came out on top on the historic day with a win by unanimous decision.
Cut to 2017 and the world is talking about the much-anticipated August 26 super fight between Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) star Conor McGregor and Mayweather, who has come out of retirement after agreeing to a hefty payday. Ardent boxing fans though had been more intrigued at the reported rematch between Pacquiao and the American boxing legend.
However, the sports lovers' dreams are set to be shattered as 38-year-old Pacquiao, 59-7-2, has revealed he is going to "think hard" about retirement. The Filipino boxer-turned senator quit the sport briefly last year to focus on political activities back in Philippines, but returned to the ring successfully in November 2016 with a win over American boxer Jessie Vargas.
It was speculated that the eight-division world champion would be involved in a rematch with Mayweather if the former managed to beat undefeated Australian boxer Jeff Horn in Sydney last month. However, the Filipino giant, under controversial circumstances, was stunned by the 29-year-old.
"I plan to relax first and recover from the pains in my body and then after that, when I have already relaxed, that's when I will think hard about it. I am also considering the opinion of people, the opinion of my family and my body," Pacquiao told ABS-CBN television, as quoted by INQUIRER.net.
Quite a few were stunned at the decision to award Horn the match. Fans took to social media to claim that Pacquiao was robbed of yet another title, following his controversial 2012 fight against Timothy Bradley.
Pacquiao also says referee Nelson helped Horn by allowing him to get away with dirty tactics. Notably, the Australian boxer went hard at the southpaw early in the match and held composure even after being out punched in the ninth-round of the 12-round bout.
"There is no problem with the style of Jeff Horn if he plays dirty, because there is a referee. The problem here is that the referee, I don't know if he did it deliberately or he just did not have experience, he just allowed it and did not even give any warning for how many times. It's as if the referee wanted to help my opponent," Pacquiao added.
Notably, Pacquiao's coach Freddie Roach opined in favour of the boxer's retirement and said his recent struggles are impacting his legacy. The American trainer though added that the Filipino boxer can consider a re-match with Horn as his swansong.
"Getting older sucks, and it happens to everyone sooner or later I would suggest to Manny that he retire now, but he wants to have that rematch in a neutral area, maybe in the Philippines. As a going-away party, I think that would be great, but then that's it," Roach said, as quoted by Yahoo Sports.
