Manny Pacquiao: Why This Must Not Be Pac-Man's Last Bout

On Saturday, Manny Pacquiao will face one of the young guns in boxing and a legitimate contender in Timothy Bradley. Whether he wins or loses, he cannot let his June 9 showdown be the last fight of a brilliant career.

It's hard for many of us to even fathom Pacquiao's retirement. After all, he's only 33 years old and still needs to work out a fight with Floyd Mayweather.

But what we seem to forget is that the Pac-Man has been in 59 fights, an insane number for one human to endure and a number that is undoubtedly weighing on the Filipino fighter's health. 

Pacquiao looked unlike himself in his most recent bout with Juan Manuel Marquez, which was only part of the reason why thousands at the MGM Grand were expressing their dissatisfaction with the announcement of Pacquiao's victory. 

Could that have been the beginning of the end for one of boxing's best? Could he be wearing down before our very eyes? We certainly hope not.

Saturday's fight will shed as much light as possible on the current state of Pacquiao. Across the ring waits a hungry, quick and nimble Bradley, who is ready to pounce and put his name in the history books.

Pay attention to Pacquiao's body language in the first few rounds. I don't expect him to come out slow, but if he does, it could bode well for Bradley and mean that Pacquiao's career might end way before we all expected it to.

He's brushed off any possibility of underestimating Bradley, and rightfully so. The man is undefeated, something Pacquiao cannot even come close to saying.

But Pacquiao has the experience, and he'll need to use it swiftly to gain victory Saturday.

He still has unfinished business, as everyone knows. If he ends his boxing career while Mayweather is still looking to be at or near his prime, Money May will take that to the bank as an automatic victory by forfeit. 

Whether or not he believes he can win, the fight with Mayweather has to happen for Pac-Man. If it doesn't, he'll be remembered for that as much as he'll be remembered for his greatness. 

The sport of boxing is awfully quick to judge at times—sometimes fairly, sometimes not—and Pacquiao will be asked about his future if he goes down to Bradley. But regardless of the outcome, he must not leave the sport of boxing just yet.