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Pacquiao-Rios: A nation waits and wonders

When eight-division world champion and “Fighter of the Decade” Manny Pacquiao steps into the ring this Sunday at the plush Cotai Arena of the sprawling Venetian Resort Hotel and Casino which has far outstripped its counterpart in Las Vegas both in terms of the high rollers it draws and its dazzling ambiance, the Filipino nation will wait and watch with bated breath to see whether their longtime hero still has what it takes to return to the roster of elite fighters.

Pacquiao himself knows all too well that he needs a truly impressive victory over former world lightweight champion Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios in their eagerly-awaited showdown for the WBO International welterweight title to chart a near future that will keep him inexorably in the public eye and hopefully earn a $100 million megabuck fight against undefeated pound for pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr.

World titles of any form are generally considered significant and a stepping stone to greater achievements but this time around its not the title that matters, it’s the performance of Pacquiao against a worthy opponent in Rios, fired by the passion of his comparative youth and a burning desire to beat one of the greatest fighters of all time and to earn for himself the right to be considered a superstar.

The Ariza factor

Trainer Robert Garcia whose high-caliber stable includes his younger brother and newly crowned WBO super featherweight/junior lightweight champion Mikey Garcia and 2012 “Fighter of the Year”, four-division world champion and former WBO/IBF super bantamweight champion Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire has nothing but respect for Pacquiao and what he has achieved in a sterling career and believes the world will never see a fighter like him again.

But in the same breath Garcia says he had reviewed the tapes of Pacquiao’s last two losing efforts – a horrendous judgment farce in a split decision loss to undefeated Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley in June last year and a crushing sixth-round knockout at the hands of Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez last December 8 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and sensed some deterioration and a few flaws.

Pacquiao has somewhat nonchalantly charged the knockout to being part of the sport where these things happen and “you win some, you lose some” while at the same time claiming he got careless and was caught by a lucky punch.

Others have advanced different reasons with no hard evidence at all to back up suspicions that Marquez was juiced up, relying mainly on the fact that the notorious Angel “Memo” Heredia who admittedly supplied Olympic athletes with performance enhancing drugs, was Marquez’ strength and conditioning coach.

When we spoke to Heredia by phone after getting his mobile number from Alex Ariza who was Pacquiao’s strength and conditioning guru at that time but is now working with Rios, Heredia denied that he had done anything irregular.

We recall Heredia telling us that science could be used for good or evil and while he failed to follow what was right in the past, he had decided to use science in a good and positive way and to fall back on his knowledge to toughen up Marquez. He got a boost from Ariza who was later on fired by trainer Freddie Roach who said Ariza caused too much dissension within the camp and had to go.

Pacquiao didn’t appear to wholeheartedly endorse the firing of Ariza but had the good sense to know that in a training camp it was the trainer who was supposed to know what’s best and to call the shots. It didn’t help Ariza that Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz who was once slapped in Baguio City by Alex also wanted him out and that Top Rank promoter Bob Arum joined the bandwagon which included Filipino trainer and Manny’s boyhood friend Restituto “Buboy” Fernandez and Nonoy Neri.

Ariza claimed Heredia was merely forcing Marquez to go through a rigorous routine that Pacquiao had basically followed in the past for his epic battles against Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto among others.

The one thing that personally bothered us was that when we covered the Marquez fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr, he looked so small but when he stepped onto the scales while at the weigh-in for his fourth fight with Pacquiao he was much bigger, had bulked up with rippling muscles and a carved out abdomen. Marquez looked really strong but significantly had no trouble making the weight.

While Manny hasn’t spoken about the effects Ariza could have in the opposite corner – although Garcia made it clear he wouldn’t be there on fight night – Rios has said he has benefited from working with Alex while Garcia himself said, at the beginning he couldn’t find one person who had anything nice to say about Ariza but conceded that he had done an excellent job and that younger brother Mikey Garcia was an example of Ariza’s work.

Significance of a bout in China

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum has said its not just the Filipino nation that will be eagerly watching the fight, many of them at the venue itself with millions more following the action on television, but the attention of the entire world will be focused on the Cotai arena in Macau.

Pacquiao knows that all too well and believes that his fight against Rios would ignite a high level of interest in boxing which is what it needs in a country of some 1. 4 billion people.

Boxing has long taken a backseat in China but with the emergence of such popular Olympic gold medalists as Zou Shiming the sport is slowly but surely creating its own high profile in the sporting mainstream in China.

If there is one individual who has the capacity to achieve this, it's Manny Pacquiao who has the sterling credentials to open up a whole new world of interest in boxing.

Pacquiao looks "simply amazing"

With Pacquiao having his first big title fight in Macau against the exciting, rugged Brandon Rios the fight is sure to arouse the passion of fight fans.

Whether it be in Las Vegas, Mexico or any other hotbed of boxing, fight fans love ring warriors and the showdown with Rios provides Pacquiao a chance not just to triumph in a career-defining fight but to hopefully – as Roach predicts – score a spectacular knockout within four to six rounds and create what one Top Rank analyst described as a “firestorm of interest in a country that is waiting to embrace a new sports hero.”

Banking on what he saw during a few days at the Pacquiao training camp in General Santos City, Arum was ecstatic. He said Pacquiao appeared to have turned back the calendar and looked very much like the fighter who pulverized Oscar De La Hota in seven rounds, separated Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton from his senses in two and mauled Miguel Cotto in twelve rounds. Arum told Yahoo Philippines what he witnessed was “simply amazing.”

Roach feels the same way too and his confidence was at a new high after Manny’s final workout in GenSan before he left for Macau last Monday.

He said “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.”

He then modified his prediction on the result of their showdown for the WBO International welterweight title. Roach said “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.”

Fight will be Pacquiao's "retirement party'

To some this may be wishful thinking. Rios himself has said he will have the last laugh at people who take him lightly and classify his fight with Pacquiao as a mere tune-up fight for the international sporting icon. "I am going to shut everyone up and prove I am the best.”

Robert Garcia pronounced with his own air of confidence, “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 (in the US). I guarantee you this will be the last time you ever see Manny Pacquiao on an HBO Pay-Per-View.”

No question Pacquiao has the experience against a higher level of competition, the hand speed, the movement and the ability to throw combinations although his power will surely be tested against the granite chin of Rios who has never been knocked out in his career.

Rios is tough and has lots of heart. One valued opinion is that Rios will go after Pacquiao from the opening bell and put a whole lot of pressure on the 35-year-old and throw as many punches as he can in the early rounds and try and upset Pacquiao’s plan to out-box him and hopefully get Pacquiao to engage.

Rios is the type of fighter who will be willing to take three punches in order to land one but he will soon realize, if he does this, that Manny is no ordinary puncher.

As one commentator pointed out Rios “doesn’t know what the word retreat means. He is going to stand and deliver but he’s going to be putting his head in front of a cannon.”

Editor's note: The blogger's views do not represent Yahoo! Southeast Asia's position on the topic or issue being discussed in this post.