By Lem Satterfield
WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao has promised to retire at the right time. He returns on May 7 against three-division, five-time titlist, Shane Mosley (46-6-1, 39 knockouts), at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas. Pacquiao wants to go out at his best, and not become an aging fighter who continues to fight, and continues to lose to the younger generation.
Pacquiao points to the career of Roy Jones Jr., who was once universally considered as the pound-for-pound king, but continued to fight well beyond his better years and suffered numerous defeats along the way. The Filpino icon is not going to wait unil his skills begin to fade in the ring. If Pacquiao feels like he's starting to slip in training, then it's time to walk away.
"When I feel the laziness in myself, and I'm trying to be lazy in training and in jogging, maybe that's the time you need to quit in boxing -- because you feel lazy in your body," said Pacquiao.
"It's not going to be like, the history of Roy Jones, before he beat his opponents easily, then he was beaten, retired, and came back. I don't want to allow somebody to beat me. I'm enjoying it right now, and I'm excited to train hard and to focus for the fight. But if the time comes, and I'm not excited any more, then, maybe I will rethink my retirement."
Lem Satterfield is the boxing editor at AOL FanHouse and the news editor at BoxingScene.com. To read more from Lem Satterfield, go to AOL FanHouse by Clicking Here.
