Manny Pacquiao retirement plans are part of boxing star’s next fight

Manny Pacquiao has not fought for more than two years but he is set to step in the ring one last time before officially announcing his retirement plans.

Pacquiao, 42, last laced up the gloves when he handed Keith Thurman his first professional defeat to capture the WBA welterweight title in January 2019.

A series of failed negotiations with UFC star Conor McGregor and a proposed bout in the Middle East with Terence Crawford fell through to keep him inactive.

The eight-weight world champion is now ready to return and a bout with Mikey Garcia, the former WBC and IBF lightweight title holder, is set to be scheduled.

Pacquiao, who has a 26-year professional career of 62 wins, seven losses and two draws, added that he will reveal his options away from the ring after this fight is signed.

"The negotiations are ongoing. I will not go into details so that there will not be any problems," Pacquiao said.

When asked about his retirement, he added: "We won't answer that for now, because that is part of the negotiations. That will be included in the announcement."

His potential opponent Garcia, 33, has only lost once in 41 fights after he was beaten on points by Errol Spence in 2019.

The California fighter returned in February last year where he picked up the WBC welterweight diamond belt in a unanimous decision victory over Jessie Vargas.

Filipino Pacquiao meanwhile has political ambitions as he currently serves his country as a senator with intentions to run for President in 2022.

His long-time coach Freddie Roach said that Garcia is the best fight for Pacquiao to finish on before opening a political campaign.

"He will fight again, I feel, and from when I've talked to him, he wants to fight once or twice more," Roach said.

"But the thing is, it could be anywhere from the U.S. to Saudi Arabia, anywhere. They were talking about Mikey Garcia and I said, 'Yeah, that's the perfect fight for Manny'.

"I think Manny will fight once or twice more before he becomes the president of his country. And then he will retire."

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