When is it time to retire?
The hardest decision for a professional fighter to make is when to retire from the ring.
Every fighter dreams to retire with his faculties intact, enough money in the bank to live comfortably the rest of his life and a legacy of immortality. Since boxing is a livelihood, it's difficult to disengage from an occupation that pays for the food on the table. It's even more difficult when a fighter has few career options after boxing and wasn't able to save for the future.
Fighters also dream of leaving the ring in a blaze of glory, like a cowboy riding into the sunset after outdrawing a notorious outlaw in a gunfight at high noon. They like to be remembered as retiring from a big win, not from a horrible loss.
In Manny Pacquiao's case, he's being asked by his mother Dionisia to hang up his gloves before he gets badly hurt in the ring. It's not unusual for a mother to think this way of a son who makes a living out of fighting. Mommy Dionisia can't even get herself to watch Pacquiao fight in the ring – preferring to pray in solitude far from the madding crowd in the arena while he goes out to earn his paycheck.
The morning after Pacquiao mauled Miguel Cotto to win his seventh world title in seven weight divisions in Las Vegas last Saturday night, Mommy Dionisia called for her son to quit boxing.
It's true the sport is unforgiving and dangerous. What happened to Z Gorres last Friday night was a grim reminder that there is a dark side to boxing, that there is sometimes a heavy price to pay in trying to achieve glory in the ring. Mommy Dionisia, no doubt, realizes the dangers of boxing and with her son on top of the world, now may be the perfect time to retire.
Pacquiao is turning 31 next month and he's figured in 55 fights since turning pro in 1995 – averaging nearly four bouts a year. A career in politics awaits him when he retires from the ring although it's possible that Pacquiao could continue fighting even as an elected public official. With his ring earnings, Pacquiao could easily turn his back on the fight game and move into the next chapter in his storybook life.
But there's one big fight left in the horizon. The unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr. is out there waiting for a showdown. If Pacquiao and Mayweather face off, they stand to earn at least $30 million each.
In the Cotto fight, Pacquiao was guaranteed $13 million, including a contracted purse of $7.5 million. Including his pay-per-view share, Pacquiao could wind up with at least $20 million in the final reckoning.
There is talk that if a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight is sealed, it may be held at the 50,000-seat Yankee Stadium in New York City. The pay-per-view buys will definitely exceed the 2.15 million record set by the Mayweather-Oscar de la Hoya fight in 2007. By the way, the pay-per-view sales for the Mayweather-De la Hoya fight amounted to over $120 million.
Will Pacquiao heed his mother's call or will he go on fighting until he hits paydirt in a Mayweather duel?
Only Pacquiao can tell if he's up to continue fighting or not. Nobody else can feel the wear and tear in his body. Nobody else can sense if he's losing the hunger to train even harder than before as he gets older. The decision is his and his alone. He may consult his family on what to do but certainly, those who pretend to be well-meaning with some hidden agenda should keep away and shut up.
Deciding when to retire is critical.
Muhammad Ali is an example of a fighter who didn't know when to quit. He finally gave it up a month before turning 40 in 1981 after losing a decision to Trevor Berbick.
Ali was never the same after the "Thriller In Manila" with Joe Frazier in 1975 but wouldn't stop fighting, seeing action in 10 more bouts, losing two of his last three. During that six-year stretch after the Big Dome bout, Ali went 15 gruelling rounds with the likes of Earnie Shavers, Leon Spinks twice, Ken Norton, Jimmy Young and Alfredo Evangelista.
It was sad to see Ali go down like he did, losing back-to-back to Larry Holmes and Berbick. He didn't need the money to keep fighting but wanted that one last stab at glory to retire with a big win. Unfortunately, time ran out on Ali and he paid dearly for fighting longer than he should've. Today, he is a ghost of his old self, afflicted by Parkinson's disease and unable to enjoy a healthy, normal life.
Marvelous Marvin Hagler, on the other hand, is an example of a fighter who knew when to quit. At 32, he lost a disputed 12-round split decision to Sugar Ray Leonard in 1987, ending a streak of 37 straight wins. Big money beckoned as promoters conjured visions of a gold mine in a Hagler-Leonard rematch. But Hagler wanted no part of it. He'd been in wars against John Mugabi, Mustafa Hamsho twice, Vito Antuofermo, Roberto Duran, Juan Domingo Roldan (who knocked him down) and Tommy Hearns. For Hagler, it was time to go even if his last fight turned out to be a bitter loss. His final record was 62-3-2, with 52 KOs.
Flash Elorde, one of the country's greatest fighters ever, lost his world junior lightweight title to Yoshiaki Numata in 1967 after a seven-year reign. He went on to figure in 13 more bouts, losing five, including three in a row. In 1971, Elorde was outpointed by Hiroyuki Murakami in Tokyo and at 36, was no longer the fearsome Flash of before.
Elorde insisted on continuing to fight but the Games and Amusements Board (GAB), in an effort to preserve his legacy, revoked his license to force his retirement. He lived until he was 49 and died of lung cancer in 1985.
Pacquiao will know when the time is up. And when retirement finally comes, let's hope Pacquiao will be healthy, strong and able to enjoy the rest of his life like a living legend because that's what a national hero deserves.