It’s fight week at the Venetian Macau in China, with the Manny Pacquiao vs. Brandon Rios fight less than a week away. Pacquiao has now arrived in Macau, hopping on over with a short flight from the Philippines.
Right here, you can find photos from Pacquiao’s arrival, as well as some photos of Team Rios, a recent workout session which they held, and some other pre-fight activities.
Official Quotes
MANNY PACQUIAO
“Am I confident for my fight with Rios? I am more than confident. Rios is bigger than me. Remember Goliath was bigger than David and yet David needed just one stone to fell the giant. I enter this fight stronger than ever. I have the strength of my country and my people coursing through my body. I fight for them, not for me. I fight for their glory, not mine.”
FREDDIE ROACH
“Manny’s last training session was nothing short of amazing. We were supposed to do six rounds on the mitts and I cut it off after four rounds. They were the best four rounds of mitts I have ever done with Manny. He was blazing. He was throwing the heat. This was the happiest and most productive camp I have had with Manny in years. I know I predicted that Manny would knock Rios out inside six rounds but based on our last workout, I don’t see how Rios makes it past the fourth round.”
BRANDON RIOS
“I want to feel Manny’s power. I want to feel all of it. This is the first training camp I have kept to the game plan and done everything I was told to do. Manny Pacquiao is a big step. I am going to shut everyone up and prove I am the best. The second Alvarado fight was my bad. I was focused on knocking him out and that’s how I trained and fought, throwing one shot at a time trying to land that knockout punch. It was also the first time I ever lifted weights and by the third round I was slowing down. This time I am focusing on winning — not on the knockout — and Robert and his dad have designed a lot of ways for me to do that. My body clock has finally adjusted to Macau. I slept until 7 a.m. and was in the gym before 9 a.m. I know we are in Manny’s backyard and I want to win every round. I have trained not to give up a minute to Manny Pacquiao.”
ROBERT GARCIA
“Twice during the two episodes of “24/7” I’ve heard Freddie Roach say he will ask Manny Pacquiao to retire if he loses to Brandon Rios. Well, Freddie had better buy that gold watch for Manny, because the retirement party begins on Saturday night. I guarantee you this will be the last time you ever see Manny Pacquiao on an HBO Pay-Per-View.”
Rios, of course, had a much longer journey to Macau from Oxnard, California. So he arrived last week to help acclimate himself to the time change and the new locale.
He hosted a four hour workout, starting with sparring six rounds, doing the mitts with chief trainer Robert Garcia six rounds, striking the heavy bag, doing floor exercises and then doing more fitness training with Alex Ariza. He seems to be in good spirits ahead of the biggest clash of his career, and he seems to be in good condition as well.
Pacquiao was all laughs and smiles too at his grand arrival, showing up with wife Jinkee, and chumming it up for a bit with promoter Bob Arum. Be sure to keep checking back with us here at ProBoxing-Fans.com for even more fight week updates for Pacquiao vs. Rios!
