Manny Pacquiao not considering retirement, not committed to fifth Marquez fight, says Koncz

Manny Pacquiao won't consider retirement from boxing right now, but adviser Michael Koncz also says that Pacquiao won't yet commit to a fifth fight with Juan Manuel Marquez, though that is what Bob Arum is targeting, and what most figure will happen next for the two superstar fighters.

Pacquiao (54-5-2, 38 KO) was brutally knocked out by a Marquez right hand on Saturday in Las Vegas, at the very end of the sixth round. Most observers felt that Pacquiao had taken the momentum in the fight, but a single vicious punch ended his hopes of winning their fourth battle since 2004.

Koncz, at RingTV.com:

"Marquez threw a punch that was, you could say, lucky. I don't think that it was perfect timing, but it was somewhat of a lucky punch that landed squarely on Manny's chin, and I think that any boxer would have gone down with that punch, and Marquez's hand was raised. ... I think that within another round, Manny would have knocked him out. So I don't think that it diminished our stock at all, to the contrary. Manny did what he said that he was going to do, and Marquez got his hand raised because he threw a tremendous punch that caught Manny squarely, and I think that the fans won because they saw a tremendous fight while the fight lasted."

Koncz -- who allegedly attacked a credentialed photographer for shooting Pacquiao while the fighter was knocked out on the canvas -- saying that "Marquez won because he got his hand raised" (which he repeats a few times) is kind of cheap, if you ask me, because I guess you could say the same for Tim Bradley, but would Koncz say that?

Anyway, point is, Manny's not going to retire. While he has plenty of good reasons to do so if he wanted to, and the risk remains high for him in these type of fights because he's never going to be committed the way he used to be, Manny Pacquiao is still among the best fighters in the world, still worth tons of money, and just put on a great fight against a man who has been his equal every step of the way through their rivalry.

A fifth fight is going to be worth a lot of money if they make it next year, and if Pacquiao takes more of a "tune-up" in the interim, that likely won't hurt anything. Whatever time there is left for Manny Pacquiao in boxing, I say cherish it.