Rios trainer says this might be Pacquiao's last big fight

MACAU - Two days before the biggest fight in his training career, Robert Garcia sat with the media and opined that the tiff against Brandon Rios might be Manny Pacquiao’s last big fight.
 
“It’s a good opportunity to order pay-per-view because this might be the last time everybody gets to see Manny Pacquiao in a pay-per-view fight,” Garcia said.
 
“Everybody comes to an end. I’m not saying this is Manny’s last fight. It doesn’t have to be. He can still continue fighting even if he loses this fight. He still makes a lot of money. He still has the support of the country behind him so he could still continue fighting but he does have a lot to lose in this fight and that’s pressure for everybody.”

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For Garcia, Pacquiao’s decline started against Timothy Bradley. “I though he won against Bradley, but the Manny of three or four years ago should have knocked him out,” Garcia said.  “Then against Marquez he not only got knocked out very bad but he also got knocked down earlier in the fight. Nobody thought Manny would have been in that situation. That means he’s not the same guy. He also hasn’t knocked out anybody since 2009.”
 
Three years ago, Garcia was in the same situation, predicting the same result. He trained Antonio Margarito back in November of 2010 for a light middleweight battle against Pacquiao. Garcia quickly learned that Pacquiao was nowhere close to being done. This fact, however, did not stop Garcia from predicting another Pacquiao loss.

“A lot of things have changed from three years ago," Garcia said. “Since then, Manny is not the same fighter. He was a great fighter a few years before when he was dominating.”
 
Garcia added that while Pacquiao’s skills declined, his knowledge as a trainer rose after all the things he learned during the Pacquiao-Margarito fight.

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“Three years ago, I wasn’t the same either. Margarito was basically my first big name. I learned a lot too. Brandon was just a kid then, now Brandon is 27. He’s a grown man, a man that is young for the sport but has the experience and I think he’s mentally ready.”
 
Garcia, however, admitted that Pacquiao is still dangerous. “Manny is not the same but he was so good that even with his decline, he’s still good,” he said. “We can’t think that he’s completely done. I’m not saying he’s done. He’s just not the same, just little things that make a big difference.”

Two days before the big fight, Garcia is confident that his ward will defeat Pacquiao. “Brandon knows the importance of this fight, of a win against Manny Pacquiao,” Garcia said. “He wants to prove all you guys wrong. He wants to prove everyone wrong. That’s why he trains how he trains.”