By Ricardo Serrano
[dropcap]A[/dropcap]nother all-time great boxer is hanging up his gloves for good. On April 9, Manny Pacquiao faced Timothy Bradley in what was rumored to be Pacquiao’s last fight of his career. Many fans did not want to believe the hype surrounding that, so they just treated the fight as a good Ol’ Pac-Man fight. Then, the fight ended. After going the full 12 rounds, Pacquiao and Bradley faced a decision by the judges. The MGM arena became silent as the fans were pondering who won this fight, the judges gave a score of 10-9 with the top score going to Pacquiao.
By unanimous decision, Manny Pacquiao defeated Timothy Bradley. All seemed well for everyone in the arena until the microphone was given to the Pac-Man to speak. “As of now, I am retired. I am going to go home and think about it. I want to be with my family, I want to serve the people,” Pacquiao said.
I was not in the room, but I could tell just by looking at the TV, the crowd was stunned into silence for almost 3 minutes. Soon enough the crowd would form a standing ovation around the arena. Claps turned into cheers, and cheers turned into screams and the fans shouting “MANNY, MANNY” for possibly the last time, ever.
Questions, however still arise. Is Manny really done for good? He only said that “I am going to go home and think about it.” You could argue that the only reason he would stay in the ring would be for a rematch with one of the only boxers to hold a victory over him, Floyd Mayweather.
“Doesn’t mean anything as far as I’m concerned,” Leonard Ellerbe, Mayweather’s advisor, said. “Floyd’s retired.” Manny Pacquiao will be hanging up his gloves to pursue a new job in his life after boxing, planning to run for Senator in the Philippines during the May 2016 election and has been surveyed to be one of the guaranteed nominations for office.
He ended up with a record of 58-6-2, only losing to the likes of Rustico Torrecampo, Medgoen Singsurat, Érik Morales, Timothy Bradley (in the first meeting), Juan Manuel Márquez and Floyd Mayweather. Even though many fans wanted to see one last match between Mayweather and Pacquiao, you have to admit, both athletes left their careers on top and that’s something to always cherish forever.
Ricardo Serrano can be reached at http://Ricardo@theseminolescribe.com