Manny Pacquiao may be turning 41 later this year, but he still doesn’t sound like he is planning to retire any time remotely soon.
In an interview with TMZ Sports prior to his welterweight title bout against Keith Thurman on Saturday, the Filipino fighter said that he thinks he has another five years left in his professional boxing career.
“If you ask me about my body condition, I feel good,” said Pacquiao. “I feel young, like late 20s.”
When pressed on if he thought he would be able to fight until 45, the former eight-division champion replied, “My feeling right now, I can say yes … Body condition, my mind, my focus, the way I work hard. I’m still enjoying my training camp, happy doing it. It’s still there.”
While Pacquiao now has 70 professional fights under his belt over his nearly 25-year career, he still has a lot left in the tank having gone 4-1 in his last five bouts (with the only loss being a suspect decision defeat to Jeff Horn in 2017). He has also reinvented himself as a fighter in his advanced age, relying more on his technical skills rather than primarily on the quickness and punching power that characterized his younger years.
We have seen many a boxer still rack up the titles well into their 40s in recent years (Bernard Hopkins, Antonio Tarver, and Roy Jones Jr, to name a few). Pacquiao has flirted heavily with the idea of retirement before, but if Saturday goes well and the body and the heart are still willing, he may have plenty left to offer in the ring.
