By Victor Salazar
New York, New York - Could this be the end of Manny Pacquiao’s career?
Long-time trainer and father figure, Freddie Roach, believes his fighter's political commitment is the biggest reason as to why his upcoming fight with Timothy Bradley is potentially his last. Pacquiao faces Bradley for a third time on April 9th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
“Seeing that he is running for senator, yes [I think this will be his last fight],” Roach told krikya360.com. “Being a senator is much more time consuming. So if he wins, he’ll likely be in line for President. He’s helped boxing a lot. He’s done everything he could."
If Roach had his way, Pacquiao would stick around for one more fight and rematch Floyd Mayweather Jr. - who decisioned the Filipino star over twelve rounds last May at the MGM Grand.
Pacquiao does not agree with the official decision and still believes he won a close fight on the cards.
"I would like to see him fight Floyd one more time because I think he can do a much better job this time. He thought he won the fight,” Roach said. “I’d like to get that [fight] one more time myself. I know he can fight a much better fight. I didn’t watch the fight because I was a little disappointed.”
According to Roach, when he left the MGM Grand in aftermath of Mayweather's big win, he was approached by a large number of fans who felt Pacquiao got robbed by the official judges. Roach has yet to review the fight.
“Thing is, I had more people walking out the arena telling me we got robbed,” explained Roach. “I think Manny was aggressive enough and dominant enough. After the fourth round he told me ‘I can’t use my shoulder anymore’, so I told him do the best he can and he did the best he can. It was a close fight. He felt he won the fight. I have to re-watch it to be honest with you to give you an opinion if we won or not.”