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Pacquiao Victory Cake

Pacquiao back, mulls retirement from ring

By Christian V. Esguerra, Roy Luarca, Miko L. Morelos, Jerome Aning
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:27:00 03/23/2010

MANILA, Philippines—Barring an irresistible offer from the camp of Floyd Mayweather Jr., the boxing world may have seen the last of its best pound-for-pound fighter.

Manny Pacquiao dimmed the luster of his homecoming Monday by saying that he was seriously thinking of hanging up his gloves.

“It’s OK for me to retire. No problem with me … I’ve been in boxing for so long. Since I was 12 years old, I have been fighting in the ring [and] now I’m already 31 years old,” Pacquiao said in Filipino during a press briefing in Malacañang a few hours after he arrived from the United States.

He said his mother, the popular Aling Dionisia, had been begging him to quit boxing, mainly to spare his body from further punishment.

“My mama told me that she would kneel before me if she had to, if only to convince me to stay away from boxing,” the Filipino megastar said. “Of course, we should respect our parents because without them, we are nothing.”