Manny Pacquiao Ready to Retire from the Ring?

Who among us does not appreciate a good fight? Any male that has raised his hand can turn in his man card as he leaves the room and turns on The View or Desperate Housewives.

We all like fights—watching them, that is. Luckily for those of us that like to watch there are guys (like Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather) that are really good at winning them. Those two have been especially good for the sport of boxing since it has been hard pressed to find guys that can garner the kind of attention that many of the fighters of yesteryear (Mike Tyson before prison, Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis, Julio Caesar Chavez, Oscar De La Hoya, etc.) once did.

Without Pacquiao and Mayweather what would become of professional boxing?

Floyd "Money" Mayweather will be heading off to jail soon. While there is no reason to think he will quit boxing, the man hasn't actually shown a lot of interest in doing it the last couple years (too many legal issues perhaps). Now it appears that Manny Pacquiao may be calling it quits sometime soon as well.

The Philippine Senator recently said that God told him in a dream that his time in the boxing ring was going to come to an end soon; that it was time for him to move on to the next phase in his life.

For Manny that could be one of two things. Pac-Man has been rumored to be looking to make a run at the Governor's mansion in his home province of Sarangani (could also be why he has cut out the boozing and fooling around). His popularity at home is immense; it would be hard to imagine him losing to anyone. As governor he may be a little too busy to train for his next fight.

However, there is also an outside chance that Manny could have something in common with the guy it doesn't look like he'll ever fight (Mayweather). Charges have been filed against Manny claiming that he failed to cooperate with tax investigators. Should they build a case against him that can stick the man might be spending as much as two-years in jail.

Manny has also stated that he no longer wants to harm anyone inside or outside the ring. If that's the case, you have to wonder when we do see him in the ring again on June 9th against Timothy Bradley if it will be the Pac-Man that fans love, or a kinder, gentler version we want to kick out of the ring.

Then again, if God told him to quit, who are we to complain?

Article by Travis Pulver