Pacquiao won’t retire after Mayweather fight, says Koncz

MANILA, Philippines – Manny Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz revealed that retirement has not crossed the mind of the Filipino boxing icon as he gears up for his highly-anticipated ring encounter against Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 2 (May 3 in Manila).

Koncz disclosed that Pacquiao plans to continue his illustrious prizefighting career regardless of the outcome of his 12-round welterweight title unification match versus Mayweather, which takes place at the 16,800-seater MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“We had brief discussions about that. I believe he will [fight again]. But how long, I don’t know. I want to see him fight possibly once or twice before calling it quits,” he said in an interview during Pacquiao’s media workout on Thursday, April 16.

In addition, the Canadian consultant stressed that Pacquiao is far from his curtain-call in the sport, especially after impressively winning his next three bouts since suffering an excruciating knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez in December 2012.

“That [kind of loss] is what makes true champions. If you get knocked, especially a devastating punch like that, what do you do after that? Some boxers can’t ever recover. It is important for Manny to prove to the world that he got knocked out, but he’s back,” he stated.

With 17 days left before this generation’s two decorated boxers collide in the ring, Koncz still could not believe that it is finally happening in May as he had already preconditioned his mind that the heavily-hyped duel would not come into fruition.

TIMELINE: The road to Pacquiao-Mayweather

There had been numerous dialogues between Pacquiao and Mayweather in the past, but for several reasons, the talks always collapsed.

The first negotiations in 2009 fell through after Mayweather demanded Pacquiao to go through random blood testing up to the official weigh-in, which was initially turned down by the fighting congressman from Sarangani Province.

Mayweather offered Pacquiao $40 million for the bout in 2012, but boxing’s reigning pound-for-pound king reportedly refused to give the latter a share of the pay-per-view revenue, which was deemed unfair by the renowned Pinoy southpaw.

Despite the numerous obstacles and delays, both camps finally sealed the deal in February following a chance meeting at an NBA game in Miami, Florida.

“We don’t have any regrets because both fighters will be able to put a tremendous show. From a business point of view, I think this fight has exploded this time around because of social media,” Koncz shared. – Rappler.com