Plans are afoot for Manny Pacquiao to close out his legendary career with a farewell fight on home soil.
“That wasn’t the ideal exit for a great fighter,” influential American boxing man Sean Gibbons said.
Pacquiao lost to Yordenis Ugas of Cuba in his last sanctioned professional fight last year in Las Vegas.
Gibbons has been in the country for a month finding ways to give the future Hall of Fame inductee a fitting sendoff.
“A few things have come up,” Gibbons said, stressing that he had to extend his stay to attend to Pacquiao matters.
Gibbons was also in attendance when Pacquiao fought DK Yoo in a special exhibition match almost two weeks ago in Seoul.
While such a final fight won’t be against the division’s big guns, it could happen against other well-known boxers.
Yesterday, Errol Spence, the division’s top guy, revealed that he has no plans facing Pacquiao because beating him might hurt his legacy.
Spence says it will not enhance his legacy if he defeats Pacquiao as it could even affect people’s perception of his achievements.
“I wouldn’t fight him. Larry Holmes is one of the greatest heavyweights. He doesn’t get respect (he deserves). How he beat Muhammad Ali—he f_ked him up,” Spence told TalkSPORT.
Ali was just a shadow of his old self when he fought Holmes—his former sparring partner—in October 1980 and lost when trainer Angelo Dundee decided to stop at the end of the tenth round.
Gibbons swears nothing close to that is being planned for Pacquiao.
