Roach: Only Pacquiao has say when he’ll retire

WITH the way Manny Pacquiao disposed of erstwhile unbeaten Keith Thurman, the Filipino champion has sent a strong message to everyone competing in the welterweight division.

“That guy (Thurman) vowed to retire Manny, and (Pacquiao) refused, indicating that he and only he has the say on when he will retire. Not someone else,” Freddie Roach said in a story posted on the Boxing Scene website.

Pacquiao, 40, is showing no sign of slowing down. After a controversial loss to Jeff Horn in 2017, he came back strong with convincing victories over Lucas Matthysse and Adrien Broner, then Thurman.

"What I can say right now is we don’t know what’s next, who we’re gonna fight next, when and so forth. We just need to sit down a little bit and let him rest a little bit with his family and perform his duties as a senator," said Roach.

Roach said, however, that Pacquiao has limited options as far as titles are concerned.

"Manny had just unified the WBA welterweight beIt. He, too, needs to unify the 147-pound championship, just like (Errol) Spence, Shawn (Porter) and (Terence) Crawford," he siad.

"If (Floyd) Mayweather unretires and decides to join the fun, it would be great. If not, Spence, Bud Crawford, those guys, I mean young guys doing really well and very, very tough fights." ABS-CBN News