by David P. Greisman 

Larry Merchant covered many of Manny Pacquiao’s fights after the future Hall of Famer — that’s Pacquiao, as Merchant was inducted into Canastota in 2009 — first appeared on HBO and continued to be featured on the network over the years.

Merchant is no longer an HBO analyst, but he does still cover the occasional show. He was working the web stream of Canelo Alvarez vs. Liam Smith and was asked about Pacquiao’s own comeback, which was announced just a few months following Pacquiao’s retirement.

Had Pacquiao’s career ended with his victory over Tim Bradley, he would’ve retired at 58-6-2 with 38 KOs. Instead, the 37-year-old will take on Jessie Vargas on Nov. 5 in Las Vegas.

Was the comeback the right choice?

“Every fighter has to decide that,” Merchant said. “Look, here I am, back in my own comeback. How can I criticize another guy’s comeback? I feel a little bit like Johnny Cash being unearthed for one show.”

Merchant noted that Pacquiao’s previous fight, just in April, showed that he still can perform well against some of the best in the sport. 

“He fought an excellent fight against Bradley in his last fight,” Merchant said. “Off of that fight, why would a guy want to retire who can still make eight figures, multiple millions of dollars? And fighting a good young fighter in Vargas — if he comes out of that looking good, then he’s going to have to think about fighting again.”

That’s not necessarily a given, said Merchant. Pacquiao may be the A-side, but Vargas is a titleholder who is coming into his own.

“I think he’s going to have to be as good as he can be at this age to beat this kid,” Merchant said. “This kid’s a good fighter, a good boxer. Obviously Manny is the strong favorite to beat him, but I wouldn’t be surprised at anything that happens.”

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