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By Abac Cordero (The Philippine Star)
MANILA, Philippines - Manny Pacquiao, according to his promoter, Bob Arum, is looking at six more fights.
But it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s going to happen, according to the boxer’s chief adviser, Michael Koncz.
“Manny has done nothing but taken on larger opponents... and it has taken the toll at times,” Koncz told Fanhouse.com boxing editor Lem Satterfield.
An article came out of boxingscene.com yesterday wherein Arum was quoted as saying that Pacquiao told him he’d like to do six more fights until 2013.
“[Manny Pacquiao won’t retire] before 2013. He told me that on the day of his birthday in the Philippines. Between 2011, 2012 and 2013, he plans to have six fights” at the rate of twice per year,” Arum told boxingscene.com .
At 32, Pacquiao isn’t getting any younger even as Koncz believes that the reigning pound-for-pound champion hasn’t reached his peak yet, not after 52 wins (38 KOs), three losses and two draws.
In the process, Pacquiao has won eight world titles in as many weight divisions, the only fighter in history ever to achieve the feat. Again, Koncz said retirement may come soon or never at all.
“But Manny’s the only one who can make that decision. All that I’m saying is that nobody is going to know except Manny himself. If something drastic happens where we have to coax him to retire, then, you know, we’ll do it,” Koncz told Fanhouse.com.
“But I don’t think that Manny has peaked and I think that he’s still developing and he’s not reached the top of his game yet. But that’s all up to him. I’m not asking him to retire and I’m not asking him to fight. When it’s time to retire he’ll know when to retire.”
Koncz said that yes, all those fights could be taking its toll on Pacquiao, who started out more than 15 years ago as a 106-lb boxer, and in his last fight, against Antonio Margarito, took the 154-lb title.
But it may be his last in the super-welterweight division, and in Pacquiao’s scheduled May 7 bout with Shane Mosley it’s going to be at 147 lb, a division wherein he’d also won the world title.
Koncz said against Margarito, Pacquiao took two solid blows to the right side of his body in the sixth round, and almost went down. He ended up in the hospital the following day for a rib injury.
“There are so many variables there. Injuries, safety, all kinds of things. In regard to how many more fights Manny will fight, only Manny knows that. At the present time, he enjoys boxing, he enjoys training, and he’s having fun and it’s not work for him.
“When he wakes up one morning and it’s like, ‘Oh my God, I’ve got to jog,’ and he finds that it’s a really difficult task to train, then, you know, it’s time for him to find something else to do,” Koncz added.
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