“Let the kids shine grandpa” - Manny Pacquiao confirms Paris Olympics retirement plans, incites mixed reactions from fans

Manny Pacquiao is one of the greatest boxers of all time, and inarguably the most accomplished and celebrated boxer to emerge from he Philippines. Few will forget his status as a former 8-division world champion, the first and still only boxer to do so. Unfortunately, Pacquiao is 44 years old and age slows everyone down.

Thus, back in 2021, he announced his retirement from professional boxing, ending his career with a legendary record of 62 wins, 8 losses and two draws. But, as has just been revealed, Manny Pacquiao is not quite yet ready to walk away from the world of boxing, at least according to Michael Benson.

On X (formerly Twitter), he revealed that Pacquiao has expressed a desire to end his boxing career by capturing an Olympic gold medal in the sport, which even his great career rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. never did. However, his announcement drew mixed reactions from the boxing faithful.

Unlike in other combat sports, Olympic boxing does not represent its highest level and is largely reserved for up and coming boxers, despite it now being legal for professional boxers to take part in it. One fan simply asked that Manny Pacquiao walk back on any plans to continue boxing, even if only briefly:

"Sit down Manny"

Meanwhile, another fan questioned the logic behind an all-time great professional pursuing Olympic glory:

"I thought the Olympics is mainly for amateur boxers?"

One fan expressed his displeasure by imploring Pacquiao to make room for a younger generation of boxers:

"45 fighting in the Olympics, let the kids shine grandpa"

One comment even labeled the Filippino legend selfish:

"Selfish and greedy, aint right."

A collage of fan reactions can be seen below:

Fan reactions

---

Manny Pacquiao's final boxing matches

Manny Pacquiao spent the majority of his career fighting for titles. Even towards the end of his run in boxing, he was still competing for championship status. Not only had he not declined to the point of finding himself on a lengthy losing streak or being the victim of frequent knockouts, he was still competitive.

He was 3-1 in his last four fights. In fact, after his loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr., the legendary eight-division champion only lost two more times in seven fights, dropping decisions to Jeff Horn and Yordenis Ugás, while winning five of his final seven bouts.