Saturday night was supposedly Manny Pacquaio’s final fight, but promoter Bob Arum isn’t buying that.
Arum, who promoted Pacquiao’s victory over Timothy Bradley on Saturday, believes that the fighter may well come back when he needs the payday.
“He’s torn,” Arum said, via ESPN’s Wallace Matthews. “His wife wants him to retire. He’s running for office, and if he wins, which he will, there will be tremendous responsibilities that go with it.
“However, a big payday is something he might require in the near future. He doesn’t have money problems now, but of course he’s going to have money problems if he’s going to be building hospitals out of his own pocket instead of letting the [Philippines] government build the hospitals.”
Pacquiao himself reiterated his intention to retire in the immediate aftermath of the fight, citing his family as the reason why, though he admitted he was personally unsure and sounded like a man open to reconsidering.
“In my heart I’m 50-50,” Pacquiao said. “But I love my family, and I won’t hurt my family, my kids. I don’t know, I might enjoy my retired life or I might want to come back. It’s hard to say because I’m not there yet. But right now, my decision is to retire.”
Pacquiao has lost a few sources of income, including at least one major endorsement deal, due to his comments about same-sex marriage. Arum is right that Pacquiao will probably win his election due to his exceptional personal popularity in the Philippines, but it sounds like, eventually, he could very well return to the ring.
