- Manny Pacquiao will likely fight two more times, finish his boxing career after 73 pro bouts, and then retire so he can concentrate on becoming the president of the Philippines.
- That’s according to the Filipino fighter’s coach Freddie Roach, who told the Boxing Scene website Thursday that ideal career-ending bouts could be fought against Mike Garcia or Terence Crawford.
- Roach even said Pacquiao would love to finish his career with a rematch against Floyd Mayweather, whom he lost a wide decision to in 2015.
- Mayweather has not fought since he finished the UFC fighter Conor McGregor in the 10th round of a crossover bout in 2017, but the UFC boss Dana White said he knows Mayweather would fight again.
- Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Manny Pacquiao is thinking about the end of his boxing career, which two fights to retire on, and would likely try and run for Philippines president once he has hung up the gloves for good.
That’s according to his coach Freddie Roach, who joked to the veteran Boxing Scene reporter Dan Rafael that he could even help Pacquiao with his presidential campaign.
“I’ve had discussions with Manny on having two more fights for his career and then maybe [stay] in the politician side of it,” Roach said, before adding that he told the Filipino fighter he would happily help him on the campaign trail.
Pacquiao stands alone in boxing as the sport’s only eight-weight world champion, having won world titles from flyweight in 1998 to super welterweight in 2010. He is one of the current champions in the welterweight division.
Additionally, the 41-year-old has generated $1.2 billion in pay-per-view sales from 25 fights in a 71-fight career to date and has fought a who's who of modern-day greats like Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, Juan Manuel Marquez, Oscar de la Hoya, Miguel Cotto, Shane Mosley, and Floyd Mayweather.
Who will Pacquiao fight next?
Roach said he had conversations with Pacquiao about having two more fights against the likes of Mikey Garcia, Terence Crawford, or a rematch with Mayweather.
"There are a lot of names coming up and so forth. I kind of like Mikey Garcia. I think that's a really, really good fight," said Roach, a revered coach who has trained many of the world's best-known fighters, from Mike Tyson to Georges St. Pierre, from his Wildcard Boxing Gym facility in Hollywood, California.
"I think Terence Crawford is a very good fighter and maybe one of the toughest fights in the world for Manny, but it wouldn't be somebody I would turn down," Roach said.
"The thing about Manny is he doesn't just want to fight. He doesn't just want to fight opponents and so forth. He wants to fight the best guys out there."
Roach said Pacquiao's preference would be the Mayweather rematch. Though the undefeated American retired after stopping Conor McGregor in the 10th round of a crossover bout in 2017, he could be tempted to return to the ring as the UFC boss Dana White said recently Mayweather wants to fight.
"I know [Mayweather] would rematch Conor McGregor," White last week.
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