When it comes to boxing promotions, people will do anything to make a buck. Faced with the prospect of the Mayweather-Mosley fight greatly outperforming Pacquiao-Clottey in the pay-per-view department, Team Pacquiao has resorted to a commonly used tactic to spike sales: threatening to retire after this fight. While we all know that Pacquiao is running for Congress in the Philippines this May, few people actually believe that he will walk away from the sport of boxing when there's still work left to be done.
Even though many consider him to be the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Manny still needs to establish that he truly is the best welterweight, a fact that both Floyd Mayeather and Shane Mosley would disagree with. Not too mention, with a number of big money fights still available to be made, it's hard to imagine that the Filipino superstar would walk away.
Considering that Joshua Clottey is coming off a loss to the fighter that Pacquiao previously destroyed, one has to wonder the motivation for choosing such an opponent. The welterweight division is stacked with talent, and there are a few undefeated fighters near that weight, like Timothy Bradley, who would have jumped at the chance to fight Pacquiao. It's clear that the selection of Clottey as Manny's replacement opponent was a clear attempt by Arum to keep all of the money in his promotional family.
Given the fact that Mayweather and Mosley agreed to terms for what should be considered the second biggest fight that can be made in the sport, Arum must be feeling the pressure of having to go head-to-head against Mayweather for pay-per-view supremacy. Since the May fight clearly has the more meaningful pairing, retirement talk is the only chance that Team Pacquiao has for making his fight with Clottey more relevant and profitable than the May mega-fight.
Although I think Pacquiao is an all-time great who has achieved as much as anyone in this era, retiring now would leave boxing fans with unanswered questions. There is still no clear pound-for-pound king and the winner of Mayweather-Mosley, who will be considered the real welterweight champ, should get to fight Pacquiao next to take care of unfinished business. Timothy Bradley and Paul Williams are also deserving opponents who have been patiently lurking in the distance. Let's stop with the dramatics and call this fight what it is: a welterweight titlist facing a respectable challenge in what is hopefully the next of a few more fights still left for the Pacman.
For the sake of the fans, retirement will have to wait until the unfinished business is taken care of.