MANILA, Philippines—Two boxing experts are divided on whether pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao should retire or not if Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is unable to negotiate for a fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr.
World Boxing Council founding secretary general Rudy Salud said on Monday that if Pacquiao “cannot get Mayweather, he should retire permanently or be semi-retired in the same manner as Mayweather and come back if Mayweather beckons.”
Salud regarded the planned April 19 fight against Shane Mosley as “meaningless because it’s just a money fight,” adding that with an eighth title in eight divisions, Pacquiao had already “achieved everything.”But American Rick Stehely, who trained Pacquiao for his first world title fight when he won the WBC flyweight title with an eighth-round knockout of champion Chatchai Sasakul of Thailand, disagreed with Salud.
“If you are waiting for one guy and it may never happen, I think Manny should continue to fight whether he fights Mosley or Juan Manuel Marquez or one of these other guys,” he said.
“I believe that if you are in your prime, don’t back away from a multimillion payday,” Stehely added.
The conflicting stands came on the eve of Arum’s arrival from Las Vegas with his wife, stepdaughter and WBO featherweight champion Juan Manuel Lopez to attend Pacquiao’s 32nd birthday bash on December 17 in General Santos City.
Salud added that “neither Manny or Arum can claim that he is fighting for our country if he fights Mosley. He might as well concentrate on his task in Congress because there is so much to do.”
Source: sports.inquirer.net
