Manny Pacquiao to hang up his gloves?

Manila: If the Filipino boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao loses again, he should hang up his gloves.

Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s Hall of Fame trainer, issued this statement following the announcement last week that the first eight-division world champion would return to court on November 24 to fight America’s Brandon Rios at welterweight, at The Venetian, in Macau.

“If he loses, I will tell him to retire, Roach told ESPN.com on Friday. “If you lose three in a row it’s your time. He’s up there in age. I’ve got to keep a close eye on him. It’s part of my job to protect him. I will do the right thing. …”

The 34-year-old Filipino pugilist said that he trusts the ring judgement of Roach, a five-time trainer of the year awardee who believes that Pacquiao still has a fight left in him despite his loss to Mexican rival Juan Manuel Marquez last December 8.

Also last year, in June, the undefeated American boxer Timothy Bradley gave Pacquiao his first defeat since 2005.

Pacquiao holds a record of 54 wins, five losses and two draws with 38 knockouts, as against a 31-1-1 record with 23 KOs by Rios, whom Roach described as a power hitter, too.

“Rios isn’t going to get n there and dance around and run around,” Pacquiao’s advisor Michael Koncz has said, as quoted by Yahoo! “He’s going to come to fight. He’ll move straight forward and try to brawl with Manny, and that’s the kind of fight that will be very entertaining for the fans. Anyone who knows these two guys knows there’s really no other way for them to fight.”

Koncz has also revealed that Mike Alvarado, who defeated Rios over 12 months during their March light welterweight rematch, was also being considered to fight Pacquiao, but he was only second choice to Rios, whose style made him the more suitable opponent for the Filipino boxer.

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