Manny Pacquiao is planning to retire after his next fight, but the Filipino boxing icon revealed that he will postpone his retirement if Floyd Mayweather agrees to a rematch this year.

Pacquiao, who will face Timothy Bradley on April 9 at MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, told Eddie Alinea of PhilBoxing that he is still interested in facing Mayweather for the second time.

"I have been very vocal about it," Pacquiao said of the rematch with Mayweather. "Even before the Bradley fight was made official on New Year's eve. The reason is simple, I want to end my 21-year boxing career with a big bang so to speak."

Pacquiao, who has won world titles in eight different divisions, took a unanimous decision loss to Mayweather during their record-setting showdown in May. The Mayweather-Pacquiao match eventually became the biggest and richest fight in boxing history, but fans were disappointed of the showdown.

Pacquiao admitted that fans were not able to get what they were expecting from the long-awaited fight, which is one of the main reasons why he is still aching for a rematch. The 37-year-old did not directly mention, but hinted his shoulder injury during the bout affected his performance and entire outcome of the bout.

"And what would be the biggest fight to end a career than fighting the best and finest boxer at least in this era?" Pacquiao continued. "We could have given that last May when we faced each other but due to unavoidable circumstances, sports fans failed to get the results they wanted."

It remains to be seen, though, whether or not Mayweather will change his mind and agree to face Pacquiao again. The undefeated boxing superstar announced his retirement after scoring a unanimous decision victory against Andre Berto in September.

Pacquiao, who has not fought since losing to Mayweather, also spoke about his decision to face Bradley. Pacquiao's choice stirred negative reaction online, as most fans and analysts agreed that Bradley is not a good choice, considering the result of their first two bouts. Latin Post also discussed why arranging the Pacquiao-Bradley rematch is a mistake.

Bradley scored a controversial split decision victory during their first showdown in June 2012, while Pacquiao ran away with a convincing unanimous decision win in April 2014. According to Pacquiao, his camp is convinced that a showdown with Bradley is more exciting than facing Terence Crawford or Amir Khan.

"There were many factors our team, headed by promoter Bob Arum, considered," Pacquiao said. "And the most important, of course, was what fight can give fans the enjoyment and excitement they expect, which, actually is my primary criteria in choosing an opponent."

Related