While Manny Pacquiao himself was quick to say that he’d be back in the ring before too long, his family seems to have other opinions. Both his wife Jinkee, and his mother Dionisia, are calling for his retirement. That’s no surprise, of course. Rich beyond belief with a burgeoning political career and plenty of endorsements and financial opportunities, to them, what’s the point?
Anybody who watched Pacquiao get knocked out by Marquez this past weekend also saw the distraught Jinkee crying and screaming and running around as Pacquiao lay on the canvas unconscious and the scene around her erupted into chaos.
In a joint interview including both Jinkee and Manny with a television station from the Philippines, Pacquiao’s wife had this to say:
“When you see your husband get hurt, you cannot even sleep.”
And on the subject of retirement — “You know the answer to that. He knows what I am asking him.”
In a separate interview, Pacquiao’s mother Dionisia said this:
“I have long asked you son, it is time to retire because you started boxing at such a young age. I always pray that he will stop. I asked God to tell my son to stop.”
She also told the Philippine Daily Inquirer, in a front page story, that the reason for Pacquiao’s defeat was religious:
“That’s what he gets for changing his religion.”
She attributed low energy and a lack of sleep to late-night Bible studies with “Protestant pastors.”
So will Manny Pacquiao end up retiring? It seems unlikely. While an unhappy mother and wife is nothing to take lightly, particularly considering that he and his wife have been on especially good terms as of late, Pacquiao seems pretty set on getting back into the ring, and doing it sooner than later.
There’s no shortage of opportunities for him either. There’s the fifth fight with Marquez, the rematch with Timothy Bradley, the rumored bout against Brandon Rios, and plenty more.
How many times we see him fight though is anybody’s guess. It wouldn’t be surprising to see 1-2 fights in 2013 and then to see Pacquiao retire at that point. But until there’s any definitive announcement, talk of Pacquiao’s retirement and when or how it will happen are all conjecture.
