Pacquiao defeats Rios by lopsided decision

11/24/201311/23/2013 Rob Smith

To no no great surprise, Manny Pacquiao (56-5-2, 38 KO’s) won his tune-up fight against former WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios (31-2-1, 23 KO’s) by a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision tonight in the Cotai Arena, Venetian Resort, Macao, Macao S.A.R., China. Pacquiao won the WBO International welterweight title belt. The judges scored it 120-108, 119-109, 118-110.

It really wasn’t much of a fight unless your idea of a fight is to stick a slow guy with a high guard in the ring with a much faster guy. It was kind of boring because it wasn’t competitive and it reminded me a lot of the mismatch that Bob Arum set up between Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey back in 2010 except that Clottey mostly stood in one place all night while covering up with a high guard to block incoming. In contrast, Rios, using his high guard, followed Pacquiao around like a moving punching back.

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Analyzing Pacquiao vs Rios

11/24/201311/23/2013 George Goddiess

rios673433 (Photo Credit: Top Rank/Chris Farina) Brandon Rios was chosen for a reason tonight. The pay per view welterweight feature fight in Macau, China is a chance for Manny Pacquiao to rebound his career against an opponent that is designed for him to win and win big. At his best, 2009 to 2010, Pacquiao absolutely demolishes Brandon Rios with relative ease minus the occasional hard connect. This fight has shades of his destruction of Ricky Hatton and his dominant and punishing decision over Antonio Margarito. Margarito of course was trained by Robert Garcia who will once again attempt to lead his fighter over Manny Pacquiao and his trainer Freddie Roach.

When a major pay per view event is announced usually the gut feeling is the correct feeling as most of these pay per view events have not been much of a mystery at announcement. Then the hype machine gets put in motion and the fight begins to get closer in perception as people either become convinced it’s a good fight or they want it to be a good fight and over think the outcome too much. After the dust settles and the outcome has been decided the same people lash out in disappointment and feel robbed by the expensive pay per view price they paid for a fight that they “foresaw” when it was first signed despite getting wrapped into the prefight emotions. When Top Rank Promotions announced that Manny Pacquiao’s next fight would be against the former lightweight titlist Brandon Rios the gut feeling was this fight is a mismatch.

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Hatton: Rios is a dangerous fight for Pacquiao

11/23/201311/23/2013 Jeff Sorby

rios563 Ricky Hatton thinks that Manny Pacquiao could (54-5-2, 38 KO’s) could be in for a bit of a problem tonight against Brandon Rios (31-1-1, 23 KO’s) if he’s unable to get Rios out of the ring by the 6th round in their fight in Macao, China.

Hatton thinks Rios’ power and his nonstop pressure could give Pacquiao major problems if he’s not able to get Rios out of there quickly to avoid having to take his massive shots round after round.

This is a fight that Hatton believes that Pacquiao will definitely win with his power and hand speed. Hatton expects Rios to walk into one of Pacquiao’s big shots that will end matters early on. Where Pacquiao could have problems though is if he Rios is able to take his power the way that Antonio Margarito did three years ago.

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Pacquiao out to mirror a nation ready to fight back

11/23/201311/23/2013 Amir Rashid

pac31 Manny Pacquiao is fighting to overcome more than just his sensational knockout loss last year, with the hopes of a nation devastated by Typhoon Haiyan pinned firmly on his shoulders this weekend.

There’s no getting away how big a star Pacquiao is in his homeland of the Philippines, a country which has been left reeling following the natural disaster which has claimed the lives of over 5000 people and displaced as many as 4 million.

In the early hours of Sunday morning on BoxNation the face of the Philippines steps back into the ring for the first time since his emphatic knockout loss to the Mexican counter-puncher Juan Manuel Marquez last December, when he takes on Brandon Rios in the gambling capital of the world – Macau.

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Weights: Pacquiao 145, Rios 146.5

11/23/201311/22/2013 Rob Smith

(Photo Credit: Top Rank/Chris Farina) Manny Pacquiao (54-5-2, 38 KO’s) successfully made weight today for his fight for the vacant WBO International welterweight title against the younger 27-year-old Brandon Rios (31-1-1, 23 KO’s) for their fight on Saturday night at the Cotai Arena, Venetian Resort, Macao, Macao S.A.R., China.

Pacquiao weighed in at 145 lbs., and looked in great shape. Rios came in slightly heavier at 146.5. The Rios looked, he appeared to be a little drained, and it seems like he’ll rehydrate quite a big by tomorrow night. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Rios coming into the fight with a 10-15 pound weight advantage over Pacquiao tomorrow night.

Rios is definitely bigger fighter here, and it’s going to be interesting to see what he can do with his superior size. He won’t have the speed or the experience advantage, but it’s very possible that he could make up for that with his size and youth. He takes a great shot and he’s getting the 35-year-old Pacquiao at the ideal time with him coming off of a knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez, and not having looked good in many years.

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Pacquiao vs. Rios: The Macau Massacre

11/22/201311/22/2013 Chris Carlson

This Saturday night which will be Sunday morning Macau time, Manny Pacquiao attempts to climb back on the horse that bucked him and ride that thing in to the sunset of his career.

The man that will be across the ring from Pacquiao is Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios, who’s full steam ahead style has everyone outside the Rios camp thinking this fight will be a one sided beat down not in his favor, and entertaining as hell while it lasts.

Can Manny bounce back from the nightmare that still lingers from his fourth encounter with the Mexican legend Juan Manuel Marquez?

Can Rios clip Manny with a fight changing punch making him an overnight star in the boxing world?

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Pacquiao to Roach: “Are Those The Guys That Made Fun Of You? That’s All I Need To Know”

08/02/201411/21/2013 Vitali Shaposhnikov

roach73 When Freddie Roach and Alex Ariza got into a scuffle, it was evident that this fight, at least the competitive angle of it, is going to change its course. Verbal back and forth is always a part of boxing, its marketing and hype. Nevertheless when Alex Ariza kicked Freddie Roach and made fun of his Parkinson’s, he signed his respect away, and boxing fans are unlikely to give it back anytime soon.

Roach was also out of line, and is now being dubbed a racist for saying a few things that are certainly worthy of such a title. But knowing Roach and Wild Card, it seems very unlikely that it was anything but the heat of the moment that made him say what he did, as his gym is probably the most international one of them all.

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Mayweather/Pacquiao fight could finally happen says Arum ahead of Pacquiao/Rios clash

11/21/201311/21/2013 BoxNation

BoxNation to donate £2 from every new subscription this week to help Philippines disaster victims

Boxing’s biggest-ever money fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao could finally take place according to a key player behind the negotiations.

Top Rank CEO Bob Arum, who promotes the Filipino superstar, admitted to BoxNation that there is genuine will on his part to make the fight happen should Pacquiao overcome the relentless Brandon Rios in Macau, China this weekend.

The matchup between boxing’s two superstar names has long been mooted, ever since both men became household pay-per-view draws.

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Bob Arum: “It’s Going To Be Like Hagler-Hearns”

09/14/201611/20/2013 Vitali Shaposhnikov

arum45 This is OK in an event in the United States. But we’re going to throw huge security around this, because this is not something that is appreciated by the Chinese. I think, that with all this undercurrent that’s going on, it’s going to be like Hagler-Hearns,” Arum recently stated in response to the scuffle between Freddie Roach and camp Rios.

The animosity between the camps has been there since the day the fight was signed. Freddie Roach and Alex Ariza working against each other is an ingredient that is bound to create heat. Not only that, but Brandon Rios himself has been on the defense/offense, showing his strong dislike of the fact that many boxing fans as well as media members have already written him off as nothing more but a sleep chosen for slaughter.

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Has Freddie Roach’s plan backfired?

11/22/201311/20/2013 Paul Strauss

Manny Pacquiao’s hall of fame trainer Freddie Roach would have liked nothing better than to see dissension in the ranks at Camp Rios. Freddie hoped the likelihood of that happening would increase dramatically with the addition of Alex Ariza to the team. Freddie made headlines when he fired Ariza from the Pacman team. Freddie explained Ariza was a disruption to training activities, a troublemaker who couldn’t get along with anyone.

An interesting point about this whole mess seemed to be that Manny expressed no dissatisfaction with Ariza; although, he did feel he had to honor Freddie’s wish and agree to Ariza’s dismissal. Therefore, Ariza got the heave ho. Soon after, Ariza latched on to the job of training Brandon Rios for his big fight against Pacquiao. When Freddie got the news, he apparently thought (and hoped) Ariza would have a disruptive influence with the Rios Team.

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