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Pacquiao to retire if he gets knocked out by Rios - Roach


Trainer Freddie Roach told Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports that he has a deal in place with his charge Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao, that if the Pacman is knocked out by Brandon Rios in his next fight, Pacquiao would retire.

"It's over, 100 percent [if Pacquiao is knocked out by Rios]," Roach said to Iole. "We have a deal. When I tell him it's over, he'll say it's over and that's it. He's pretty loyal with his words and if that happens, it will be the end."

The 35-year-old Pacquiao (54-5-2, 38 KO) will face Rios (32-1-1, 23 KO) on November 24 in Macau, China, a little under a year since he suffered a brutal KO defeat to rival Juan Manuel Marquez.

However, Roach says not to count Pacquiao out just yet, adding, "The thing is, people look at the losses and they think the reason is that he's getting old. That's not the case, not from what I see. Look, we all thought he beat [Timothy] Bradley, so throw that out. And in the Marquez fight, I thought he was doing well and was looking like he was going to win by knockout when he made a mistake and ran into a shot.

"That happens. That's boxing. It didn't happen because his skills aren't the same as they used to be. It happened because he made a mistake. It doesn't matter what age you are, you can make a mistake."

Roach also called this "a very important fight" for Pacquiao, saying that should his ward beat Rios in convincing fashion, such a victory could revive talks of the long dormant bout versus the undefeated Floyd Mayweather (44-0-0, 26 KO).

Mayweather fights Saul Alvarez in Las Vegas on September 14. - AMD, GMA News

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