What did we learn from Manny Pacquiao vs. Brandon Rios?
In the aftermath of November’s Manny Pacquiao vs. Brandon Rios, there has been plenty of discussion on Pacquiao, his current position in the sport, and what’s next. Here, take a look at the top 5 takeaways from the Pacquiao vs. Rios match.
1. Pacquiao Still Has Fast Hands and Great Footwork
After suffering a devastating loss to bitter rival, Juan Manuel Marquez, questions circulated about whether Pacquiao’s skills had diminished. Pacquiao dismissed some of those rumors with his stellar performance against Rios, re-solidifying his spot as a top fighter in the sport. Pacquiao’s hands were still lighting quick, and his footwork still allowed him to create the angles that are key to his success. He may have lost some hand speed, which is only natural with age. Additionally, he may have lost some power- due in part to the fact he wasn’t driving through his punches as much as he normally would, allowing him to get in and out quicker. Overall, Pacquiao showed he was still sharp- landing 281 punches out of the 790 thrown (36%).
Check out our HUGE Pacquiao vs. Rios photo gallery
2. Rios is Indeed a Punching Bag
When HBO’s Max Kellerman asked Brandon Rios if he was a punching bag, a combative Rios turned the question right around on Kellerman. Rios was adamant that he wasn’t a human punching bag, but spectators who watched the fight saw otherwise. Rios was only able to land 138 punches out of the 502 thrown, for 27%. He was able to connect periodically throughout the fight, but never really hurt Pacquiao. Moreover, Rios took a constant barrage of punches throughout the fight, being unable to return punches during these flurries. Rios kept coming forward, but lacked the head movement necessary to avoid the jab and big incoming punches. His solid chin allowed him to stay in the fight as long as he did, but after a while he just became target practice for the Filipino legend.
3. Pacquiao Has Lost His Killer Instinct
Politics, religion, age, and previously being knocked out are all on the list of possible contributors to Pacquiao’s lack of killer instinct. Some may look at these as a distraction- reasons why the Pacman hasn’t had a knockout since Miguel Cotto in 2009. Pacquiao has become a devout Christian in recent years, and as a fan you have to question if this all translates to a more compassionate Manny in the ring.
If you watch earlier fights in Pacquiao’s career against Morales, Barrera, De Le Hoya, Hatton, he is relentless. He pursued the knockout. Now it seems that despite trainer Freddie Roach’s constant prediction of a knockout, that Pacquiao has become a more cerebral fighter; one that is content with the decision victory. This was evident down the stretch of the Rios fight, as Pacquiao picked his shots with more precision, rather than become wild and reckless.
Pacquiao, has learned from his last mistake in the Marquez fight and we may never again see the Pacquiao of old in that regard. But so what? If he can win decisively on the scorecards and show that he is still an elite fighter, it may be in his best interest to eschew the gung-ho attitude. While fans love the knockout, they may just have to be content with the more cautious version of an older and more mature Pacquiao.
4. Pacquiao Needs One More Test
While Brandon Rios was a formidable opponent and a big puncher, he was handpicked for Pacquiao’s offensive style. The Rios fight wasn’t necessarily a tune-up bout, but it was certainly a fight that was more designed to measure if Pacquiao could still contend. Now that he has proven he can it is time for Manny to move on to bigger-name opponents, ones in the top 10 pound for pound rankings. The names, although redundant, would be Timothy Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez, two fights that seem feasible to make and ones that fight fans might pay to see.
Redemption would be satisfying for the Pacquiao camp after the Bradley robbery and the unexpected knockout at the hands of Marquez. These two fighters may give Pacquiao the challenge he needs before we get the fight we really want to see- Floyd Mayweather.
5. Fans Would still Pay Good Money to See Pacquiao-Mayweather
Come on, who are you kidding? If a Pacquiao vs. Mayweather fight was made today, you would pay big money to watch these two finally tangle in the ring. Despite being three or four years too late fans would love to see this fight, even if it brings only a shadow of what could have been. Three years ago fans would have had a tough time picking a clear favorite, but now, the table has certainly shifted to Pacquiao being the underdog. If the fight were to be made, Pacquiao would likely have to take significantly less than what was initially on the table in previous years.
Based on name recognition alone this fight would still shatter pay per view records. Bob Arum has indicated that he and the Pacquiao camp would be very interested in making this fight happen, but as we know, nothing is simple between these two camps. The fight would still be incredibly difficult to make, with the Top Rank/GoldenBoy cold war and Mayweather’s move over to Showtime, which in turn makes negations even tougher from a business perspective
We could potentially see a situation such as the Tyson-Lewis bout, where HBO and Showtime came together to make that super fight. Will this dream fight finally come to fruition? We’ll have to wait and see. But better late than never.
