Manny Pacquiao's Retirement Hinges on Floyd Mayweather's Decision To Fight

Before signing up for his November 13 date with Antonio Margarito, pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao had, on many occasions, reiterated his desire to face undefeated American boxer Floyd Mayweather, Jr. in the ring.

In order to entice Mayweather to sign up, Manny Pacquiao agreed to all the original demands of Mayweather's camp, including the random blood testing protocol which Mayweather had demanded.

But for whatever reason, Mayweather decided to decline Pacquiao's call for a fight in November.

Boxing fans say the real reason Mayweather declined Pacquiao's call for a fight was his fear of losing to the Filipino boxer, which would taint his unblemished professional boxing record.

If indeed Pacquiao is serious in his plan to retire right after his fight with Antonio Margarito, boxing fans can only think of a handful of reasons why he is retiring sooner than later.

First and foremost is Pacquiao's failure to give his millions of fans around the world the fight they wanted to see.  

Pacquaio has acknowledged he is nothing without the support of his millions of boxing fans around the world, and he feels sad he won't be able to please them with Mayweather's continued refusal to face him in the ring.

The other reason for his potential retirement is his possible permanent career-switch from boxing to politics, as mentioned by his trainer Freddie Roach. The hall of fame trainer said Pacquiao told him in one of their training sessions about how he misses his work in the Filipino congress.

Still another reason may be the absence of a worthy opponent in the welterweight division who could at least approximate Mayweather's crowd-drawing potential.

On the other hand, Mayweather could play a very important role in persuading Pacquiao's impending retirement.

Both Pacquiao and Mayweather know the fight will be the richest in boxing history, and critics believe the two greatest boxers of this generation will do everything possible to make it happen.

Setting aside his current court cases, which could prevent him from fighting next year, Mayweather could make a definite announcement about his decision to face Pacquiao next year.

Boxing critics believe that the only way to seriously prevent Pacquiao from retiring is for Mayweather to make a categorical announcement of his willingness to fight for the sake of millions of their boxing fans across the globe. Hopefully for boxing fans, Mayweather will finally agree to a fight.