Manny Pacquiao: Why His Retirement Would Be Good for Boxing

If Manny Pacquiao decides to retire after his bout with Timothy Bradley, after the tributes, the sport will be better for it.

Before you accuse me of hating Pac-Man, understand this: Manny is one of the most exciting fighters I’ve ever watched. No fighter delivered excitement in pay-per-view events as consistently as he did.

That said, the sport needs to move from under the "Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao Superfight" shadow. I’m tired of the talk, jail sentences, political aspirations, blah, blah, blah. Their greatness makes us pay attention to the speculation, but it’s become nauseating.

The only way it will ever go away, is if one or both of them do. I believe that like it or not, their careers are tied to each other—as much as any two legendary fighters’ careers have ever been, that never fought each other.

If Pacquiao leaves, Mayweather won’t be far behind him. They are the biggest names in the sport. They fight in the same weight region, yet they can’t get together.

It’s frustrating, and it’s time for boxing to move on.

As they move aside, it will pave the way for other top notch fighters to get some well deserved love. Pacquiao’s countrymen, Nonito Donaire is an awesome fighter that too many people are unaware of. He is 28-1 and arguably the best fighter at 122 pounds and lower.

Amir Khan is exciting, and magnetically imperfect. He is 26-2 with 18 KOs. He has awesome skills, but the two missteps in his career have him a tier beneath Money and Pac-Man. If their tier was eliminated, it thrust these types of stars onto center stage.

Finally, Pac-Man is fading. He hasn’t looked as sharp in his last two bouts, and it could be because he isn't 100 percent devoted to his craft anymore.

Manny is pursuing a career in politics and he’s under pressure from his family to hang up the gloves. His mother Dionisia was quoted by Karl Wilson of the National saying:

"He has been boxing for 15 years - he has achieved everything he has ever set out to achieve. It's time Manny thinks about the future."

With pressure like that, an aging body, political aspirations and the "superfight" circus, Manny has too much on his plate to concentrate on training. If Manny does decide to hang up the gloves, he and the sport will thrive once he’s gone.