Pacquiao won’t quit following Marquez defeat

Manny Pacquiao has refused to retire and call it quits on his 17-year professional boxing career following a sixth round knockout defeat to Juan Manuel Marquez that left him lying face down on the canvas. He said he is ready to fight again after losing by knockout to Mexican boxer Juan Manuel Marquez.

"after a few months, back to training and back to fight."

In the sixth round of their non-title welterweight bout on Saturday (Sunday in Manila), Marquez finally got his first win over Pacquiao in four attempts.

The 39-year-old Mexican lost twice and drawn once in his three previous fights against the 33-year-old Pacquiao.

With just a second left in the round, Marquez's stinging right hand sent Pacquiao face first to the canvas.

Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum also remained open to the possibility of a fifth fight against Marquez.

"Why not? People love this action." said Arum. "This fight will go down in history as a ring classic. If they wanna fight again, why not?"

Pacquiao too was willing to face Marquez again. "No problem. That's up to my promoter," the Philippine congressman said.

On being knocked out, he said that was part of boxing. Pacquiao admitted that he lost after becoming overconfident during the fight.

Pacquiao, who will turn 34 on December 17, is the first eight-division world champion, and the first to win the Lineal Championship in four different weight classes.

He is a three-time The Ring and BWAA "Fighter of the Year" (for 2006, 2008, and 2009) and the Best Fighter ESPY Award in 2009 and 2011.

Pacquiao was also named "Fighter of the Decade" for the 2000s by the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA), World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Organization (WBO).

However, his loss to Marquez is already his second in row after losing to American Tim Bradley in June this year.

The financial magazine Forbes said Pacquiao's loss "could negate a $100 million future payday for Manny which would be earned from a dream match-up against Floyd Mayweather that some estimate is worth $250 million in PPV (pay-per-view) sales."

According to a Forbes estimate, Pacquiao earned $62 million between July 2011 and June 2012, including around $6 million in endorsements.

The Pacquiao-Marquez rivalry is said to be one of the biggest in the world of boxing.