‘Careful’ Pacquiao learns lesson from Marquez loss

The sellout crowd at Cotai Arena inside the grandiose Venetian Macau Hotel and Casino rose to its feet in anticipation of a knockout that never came.

And there’s a reason behind it as Manny Pacquiao would admit.

“I’m very careful. I learned from my last fight,” a victorious Pacquiao said in an interview with HBO’s Larry Merchant before breaking a smile.

Pacquiao, whose hand was finally raised after scoring a lopsided decision over hard-as-nails Brandon Rios, didn’t show any effects from his devastating knockout loss to rival Juan Manuel Marquez 11 months ago as he reverted back to old lethal form.

“Recovering from the knockout and putting on a good show like the young Manny Pacquiao,” he said of his stirring comeback performance.

There wasn’t a knockout, stoppage nor even a knockdown but Pacquiao’s performance nonetheless showed flashes of his old self as he circled around a flat-footed Rios after throwing combination after combination like that of his sterling showing in his 12th round stoppage of Miguel Cotto four years ago.

The only difference was the brash Rios stayed on his feet and repeatedly gestured he wasn’t hurt despite his head getting cocked back over and over from Pacquiao’s flurry.

“I didn’t see Rios as an easy opponent. He is tough,” Pacquiao, who turns 35 next month, commended. “He is one of the toughest opponents of my career, he took a lot of punches.”

The bell rang signaling the end of the 12-round bout with Pacquiao’s face draped in sweat while Rios’ showed a badly beaten fighter, his left eye deeply cut, his right eye swelling and nose bloodied.

The crowd sensed a knockout was looming in the dwindling seconds. It never happened and judging by how Rios looked as the bell sounded, Pacquiao perhaps didn’t need one.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Pacquiao is back, beats Rios in 12 rounds

MANILA, Philippines– With a fight that went the distance, eight-time world champion Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao made his comeback known with a convincing victory over Brandon “Bambam” Rios at their bout held at the Cotai Arena at the Venetian.

Dubbed as The Clash in Cotai, the 12-rounder saw Pacquiao dominate the bigger Rios landing uppercuts and straights, with the southpaw cruising to a unanimous decision victory, 120-108, 119-109, 118-110, adding the WBO International Welterweight Championship belt to his impressive trophy case.

Pacquiao, coming off two straight defeats, took a careful approach against the hard-hitting Rios who looked like a smaller Antonio Margarito after the southpaw landed quality power punches.

“I wanted to give a good show,” said Pacquiao who put on a methodical showcase throughout the 12 rounds.

From the opening bell, Pacquiao threw his left straights as if it were jabs, landing massive blows to the head of Rios who sustained a cut above his left eye in the fourth round.

A tired Rios only to land light jabs, relying on the clinch to hit power punches on the smaller Pacquiao with the former nursing a swollen right eye after his left brow blew open.

Continuous combinations opened up the match for Pacquiao as he took the driver seat as early as the fifth round then maintained his careful pace until the final bell.

Though Rios managed to bring the fight to the ropes, but Pacquiao’s evasiveness dwindled the Mexican’s chances of landing points in score card as Pacquiao’s constant counters proved too much.

In an act of pure sportsmanship from the Filipino, Pacquiao gave his felled opponent a hug after the bell signified the bout’s end.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Pacquiao, Rios make weight

MANILA, Philippines—Filipino ring legend Manny Pacquiao and Mexican-American Brandon Rios made weight Saturday for their upcoming welterweight bout.

Pacquiao, who will be making his ring return since his shocking loss to rival Juan Manuel Marquez last year, came in at 145 lbs while Rios tipped the scales at 146.5 lbs just a shade under the 147-weight limit.

The two fighters meet Sunday at the Venetian in Macau.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Pacquiao eager to punish mocking Rios camp

MACAU—Manny Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach says the boxer will use Sunday’s fight against Brandon Rios to punish members of the Rios camp who mocked Roach’s speech, which is affected by Parkinson’s disease.

The fallout from Wednesday’s physical confrontation between Roach and the Rios camp continued Thursday, with Roach saying Pacquiao had watched video of the heated incident in which Roach was kicked and his speech mocked.

“(Pacquiao) said to me ‘are those the guys that made fun of you?’ and I said yes, and he said ‘that’s all I need to know’ and he walked away,” the United States-born Roach told The Associated Press on Thursday.

“He told me he’s going to take care of this guy quickly.”

Roach was kicked by his former co-worker and Pacquiao corner man Alex Ariza—now in the Rios camp assisting head trainer Robert Garcia—and while Roach initially called for police to arrest Ariza, he laughed off the seriousness of the confrontation a day later.

“What (Ariza) doesn’t realize is that Manny hits me ten times harder every day. It was like a girl kicking me,” Roach said.

Sunday’s fight will be Pacquiao’s first since getting savagely knocked out by Juan Manuel Marquez almost a year ago.

The Filipino, once regarded as pound-for-pound the best fighter in the world, is keen to restore his standing in the boxing world after successive defeats against Marquez and a much-criticized judging decision in favor of Tim Bradley.

“He’s hungry after the year off, he’s anxious to get in the ring and he’s anxious to show the world he’s still an elite fighter,” Roach said. “The best way to do that is to knock Brandon Rios out, we both know that, and I have stressed that to him.

“Initially I didn’t think the fight would go six rounds, and after the way he’s worked out, I don’t think it will go four.”

Pacquiao has not stopped an opponent since he fought Miguel Cotto four years ago, but Roach feels Rios’ aggressive style will open the door for a quick finish.

“Rios is a tough guy and tough guys don’t win fights, good boxers win fights,” Roach said. “The more I watch him on tape the worse he gets.

“We will box him and the knockout will come with Manny’s hand speed and combinations and Rios not having a good defense. One thing we know is that Rios will fight back and that’s our big advantage because Manny is a beautiful counter-puncher and we’ve been working quite a bit on that in the gym.”

Sunday’s fight in Macao, which will be Saturday night U.S. time, is for the vacant WBO welterweight title.

source: sports.inquirer.net