Manny ‘Pacman’ Pacquiao is lacing up the gloves once more this Saturday to take on Brandon ‘Bam Bam’ Rios – his first fight since a crushing knockout defeat to Juan Manuel Marquez last December.
While Sportsbook odds have the Filipino a -450 favourite and Rios at +340, neither boxer should throw caution to the wind. Rios is coming off a loss to Mike Alvarado in their thrilling rematch that saw him lose only by one point on one of the judges’ scorecards, and is a guy who loves to feel pain in the ring – as he expressed to Robert Garcia in his original fight with Alvarado – and there is no doubting that he will keep trying until both hear the final bell.
Whilst it is true that Rios has not fought the same level of opposition as Pacquiao, and there should be a noticeable speed difference when the two exchange blows, one has to wonder what the mindset of Pacquiao must be like. Does he still hold the same confidence before what happened in December 2012? After so many wars can he go to the well once more? Has the Marquez defeat taken something from him physically?
These are valid questions that need to be answered on Saturday, especially if Pacquiao wants fight fans to still consider him worthy as a possible future opponent to Floyd Mayweather. One fight can change people’s opinions and the pressure will be on his shoulders, something he probably has not felt in years, most likely since fighting a worn out Oscar De La Hoya.
Brandon Rios has not yet fought at the 147lb weight limit, however, people have seemingly forgotten in the build-up that he lost his WBA title on the scales before fighting John Murray after trouble making the 140lb limit. Rios himself said he walks around approximately 155lbs so the weight should not be a factor. If Rios enters the ring in the high 150s or even 160s then Pacquiao could have a real fight on his hands! While Mayweather has shown that weight is of no concern to him, Pacquiao was almost broken in half when he fought Antonio Margarito and had to ship some heavy body shots. Margarito was another guy who weighed a lot more than Pacquiao, and was somebody who made sure that the fallen star could not recapture his previous form, which has been noticeable ever since.
Pacquiao was unable to put away an aging Shane Mosley and his performance against Marquez in their third fight was almost non-existent as the Mexican looked to have won by a clear margin. Against Timothy Bradley, it looked as if Pacquiao looked his former self once again but failed to put him away or have him in clear trouble. In fact, Bradley’s foot injury, which he acquired in the fight, troubled him more than Pacquiao’s punches as he was carried to the press conference in a wheelchair.
While formalities have been aired in favour of Manny Pacquiao regarding Saturday night’s fight, Brandon Rios is a guy to be respected and is not somebody who can be used as a confidence booster. He is a former world champion – a very recent one at that – but stylistically nobody can say that promoter Bob Arum stages dire main events. It should be a war of attrition, and like Timothy Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez, Rios will want to prove a point.
I will pick Pacquiao to win on points after another bruising affair that should bring the close to his career even nearer.
