Manny Pacquiao's Retirement Hinges on Performance over Timothy Bradley

On June 9, eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao will have to show the best performance of his life against Palm Springs star Timothy Bradley to justify his latest statement on his planned retirement.

Earlier this year, shortly after his arrival in Manila from a short trip to New York with wife Jinkee, Pacquiao said he's good for two or three more fights before retiring.

But right after his arrival in Los Angeles for the final phase of his training for his upcoming fight with Timothy Bradley, the WBO welterweight champion said he has no plans of retiring anytime soon. 

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“I’m glad to be back at Freddie’s gym. I have no plans to retire. I still love what I’m doing. Freddie and I had a good camp in the Philippines and we are ready to work very hard in preparation for Timothy Bradley. Bradley is strong, undefeated and young. I have a great deal of respect for his talents and his accomplishments," Pacquiao said. (h/t Dan Rafael blog at ESPN)

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If indeed Pacquiao intends to continue fighting even after he steps down as congressman of the lone district of Sarangani in southern Philippines and later gets elected as governor of the province, he must show his fans and critics that he is still in the prime of his career by stopping Bradley on June 9.

A unanimous verdict against Bradley will not change fans' impression that he is now past his prime, considering his lackluster performance against Juan Manuel Marquez during their third encounter last year in Las Vegas, Nevada.

A very impressive performance over Bradley will surely validate his earlier statement about his new plans for retirement and he can look forward to more lucrative fights including a showdown with unbeaten Floyd Mayweather.

But Mayweather also hinted at retirement after crashing Miguel Cotto early this month, saying there is no one who is worthy of fighting. 

"There's really no one for me to fight anymore," Mayweather said, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Obviously Mayweather has given up on Pacquiao after offering the Filipino boxing star $40 million without pay-per-view (PPV) share. Pacquiao rejected Mayweather's offer and insisted on a 50-50 split on  PPV.

If Pacquiao fails to impress his fans in his showdown with Bradley, he would probably revert to his original plan of staging two more fights before finally retiring.

If indeed Pacquiao will retire in 2013 as he had announced earlier, it is obvious he will be returning to the ring in November after his date with Timothy Bradley on June 9.

Most likely, he will face Juan Manuel Marquez for the fourth time to finally settle their differences. It seems fight fans would still patronize another showdown between these two great fighters as they continue to talk about their controversial encounter last November in Las Vegas.

And hopefully Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum, who is seen by critics as the one standing in the way of the mega-fight, will do a 90-degree turn to give boxing fans from around the world the fight they all want to see.