Manny Pacquiao should retire to avoid embarrassment, says Evander Holyfield
- Joe Hewlett
- 23 March 2020
Boxing Hall of Famer Evander Holyfield has warned fighters in their prime to stay away from an ageing Manny Pacquiao.
‘Pacman’ rolled back the years in 2019 with stunning victories over Adrien Broner and Keith Thurman and is the current WBA welterweight champion.
American duo Errol Spence Jr and Terence Crawford hold the other belts in the 147-pound division and have both been linked with unification showdowns with Pacquiao.
However, the ‘Real Deal’ knows a thing or two about fighting through the decades having retired at the age of 49. In his career, between 1984 to 2011, Holyfield is the only boxer to have been undisputed champion at heavyweight and cruiserweight.
He is ranked by BoxRec as the greatest 200-pound fighter of all-time and is famous for victories over ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson and Riddick Bowe.
Speaking about boxing’s eight-weight ruler, Holyfield told Fight Hub TV: “I like Pacquiao. He’s my favorite. He does what he believes is right. It’s amazing. He really fights and that’s why people really like him.
“Everybody gotta stop ‘cos you gon’ get embarrassed. At some point in time, you will get embarrassed (if) you stayed there too long. Somebody’s gonna break your record anyway ‘cos records are meant to be broken,” Holyfield said when asked if Pacquiao should continue fighting.
Pacquiao could occur brain damage
Bob Arum - former promoter of Pacquiao’s - revealed the Filipino doesn’t want any of ‘Bud’ Crawford - the WBO welterweight titlist and is also hoping he calls it a day to avoid life-threatening injuries.
“Leave Pacquiao alone. He’s an old man. He doesn’t wanna fight Crawford. He doesn’t wanna fight him [Crawford] (even) when I was (still) promoting him. Pacquiao is not competitive with Crawford. He’s a great fighter still but he is not competitive,” Arum said.
The Top Rank promoter has previously spoken about his worries if Pacquiao continues his career against elite fighters of today.
"Look, I love Manny Pacquiao.
"I have a whole history with Manny Pacquiao. I'm really rooting for Manny Pacquiao, but you've gotta realise that he's 41 years of age, and when a fighter has been around so long passes his late 30s and goes into his 40s, he's not gonna be as good as he was in his prime,” Arum explained.
“You know, I mean, the doctors will tell you that the cranium as you get older, thins out. So a guy that's younger gets hit and the cranium absorbs the blow so that it doesn't affect the brain matter,” Arum continued.
"When they get older the cranium is thinner, and when you get hit it affects? That would be the worst thing in the world if Manny Pacquiao suffered brain damage at this point. Zab Judah is a perfect example of how dangerous it is for a guy to continue fighting into his 40s."
