_51.jpg)
Late Tuesday night, eight division world champion Manny Pacquiao officially announced his retirement from the sport.
Last month, the 42-year-old Pacquiao snapped a two-year layoff and lost a twelve round unanimous decision to WBA welterweight champion Yordenis Ugas.
In 2015, Pacquiao took part in the richest and most financially lucrative fight in the history of combat sports – when he lost a twelve round unanimous decision to Floyd Mayweather.
The contest took several years of negotiations.
After suffering the loss, Pacquiao pursued a rematch, but he never secured a second meeting – as Mayweather retired in September of 2015.
Former four division world champion Roy Jones, who suffered some defeats of his own that went unavenged, highly doubts Pacquiao will regret suffering that loss.
“It’s not his regret,” Jones told Sky Sports. “Because he wasn’t the one who wasn’t trying to make it happen.
“He was trying to make it happen but couldn’t until Mayweather agreed to it. It’s nothing that he has to regret.”
Jones is in awe of the legacy left behind by the Filipino superstar, who in 2022 will attempt to become the President of the Philippines.
“He leaves an absolutely marvelous legacy in boxing. He had a whole country and a whole continent behind him. He brought a whole lot to the game, he entertained for a long time, it was a beautiful thing to see,” Jones said.
“It was like one country against the world – that’s what he represented. It was a beautiful career and I’m glad to have experienced it, glad to have known him. He’s an awesome person who had a brilliant career. He fought whoever came his way, whoever was close to his weight.
“He had a heck of a trilogy with a couple of guys. He had a heck of a fight with many Mexican guys. He had really good fights, and fought all the names that were available to him at the time.”