Gibbons says Pacquiao not yet done with boxing

CEBU, Philippines —  As far as MP Promotions president Sean Gibbons is concerned, Filipino sports hero Manny Pacquiao is not yet done with boxing.

Gibbons offered this clarification after Pacquiao seemingly announced that he’s retiring from the sport in an exclusive interview on “Toni Talks” with host Toni Gonzaga.

“My boxing career is over. It’s already over. I’ve been boxing for a long time already and my family would always tell me that it’s time to stop. I just kept going because I’m so passionate about boxing,” said Pacquiao in the show, which was aired on Gonzaga’s YouTube channel last Monday or a day after he accepted the nomination for Philippine presidency from the PDP-Laban party.

“But now, I’ll just support boxers so that we can have a champion again. You can’t say this is the next Manny Pacquiao. Manny Pacquiao is just a manifestation. He is owned by the Lord, who gave all the blessings,” he added.

However, Gibbons, Pacquiao’s confidant and longtime business partner, debunked suggestions that the Filipino icon has already called it a day.

“There is nothing 100% set that (Pacquiao) is done with boxing,” Gibbons told Jake Donovan of BoxingScene.com. “He will make a decision in October. (For now), he is just discussing ‘maybe or maybe not.’ Nothing official.”

Calls for Pacquiao’s retirement reverberated immediately in the halls of boxing after the eight-division world champion suffered a stunning loss to Cuba’s Yordenis Ugas in their WBA “Super’ welterweight title bout one month ago at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

While he considers hanging up his gloves for good, Pacquiao has indicated that he still wants to fight, even eyeing a rematch with Ugas in January next year.

Pacquiao, who turns 43 on December 17, is set to decide on the future of his illustrious boxing career anytime soon.