Manny Pacquiao and his team are giving retirement from the sport serious consideration after the eight-division champion was defeated by a unanimous points decision in Brisbane on Sunday evening.

The boxer admitted he was already giving serious thought to the idea, but would listen to what his fans, his trainers, and his staff had to say before making his mind up.

"I am also considering the opinion of people, the opinion of my family and my body," he told press upon landing back home in his native Philippines.

"I plan to relax first and recover from the pains in my body and then after that, when I have already relaxed, that's when I will think hard about it."

It has been reported that his wife and his long-time trainer Freddie Roach will encourage him to retire after this loss.

At 38 years old, there is some debate surrounding his versatility and ability to get down and dirty if the fight requires.

This will come as a huge disappointment to many of his fans who thought they had seen the last of the great man in the ring last year in April when he originally called time. But, barely two months later, he came out of this retirement despite being elected to the Philippine Senate.

Pacquiao, however, had a few words to say about the referee's decision to let Jeff Horn's 'dirty play' slip away unpunished.

"There is no problem with the style of Jeff Horn if he plays dirty, because there is a referee," he said.

"The problem here is that the referee, I don't know if he did it deliberately or he just did not have experience, he just allowed it and did not even give any warning for how many times. It's as if the referee wanted to help my opponent."

With Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather set for a much-hyped showdown, there had been rumblings of a face-off between the winner of that match and Pacquiao.

That prospect, however, now looks to be something of a fantasy.