Advertisement

Pacquiao will fight like there is no tomorrow

Manny Pacquiao no doubt realizing that he faces a crucial test against former lightweight champion Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios in Macau on November 24, and wants an impressive victory that would restore his stature and marketability and help him regain his place in the roster of elite fighters.

The former No. 1 in Ring Magazine’s pound for pound list has, after his crushing 6th round knockout to Juan Manuel Marquez last December 8 in Las Vegas, slid down to No. 7 with Marquez overtaking him to settle at No. 6.

Sports Illustrated in its rankings through October had Pacquiao at No. 3 with Marquez dropping to No. 6 following his loss to Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley.

SI said “Pacquiao has been quiet since being knocked out cold by Marquez in December, but he will return against Brandon Rios in Macau on November 24. If he bounces back, a showdown with the winner of Marquez-Bradley looms next year.”

Indeed, Pacquiao and trainer Freddie Roach both agree that he needs to win – and win big with Roach predicting a knockout within six rounds while Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz went one better and said if Manny follows the game-plan it will end in five.

Roach earlier asked us to relay a message to Rios who had announced he is “going for the kill” and plans to send Pacquiao into retirement.

In a simple response the Hall-of-Fame trainer said “tell Rios we are going after him and will knock him out.”

It sort of jibed with what Pacquiao said on an excellent Top Rank feature on the fight which was telecast as a segment on a pre-fight special we produced for Viva Sports on PBO – Pinoy Box Office over the weekend.

Pacquiao vowed “to throw a lot of punches, go toe-to-toe like there’s no tomorrow” with the eight-division world champion spreading the word that he wanted to win big and win spectacularly.

Prior to his final sparring session at his Pacman Wild Card gym in his hometown of General Santos City on Monday when he was scheduled to go four rounds with British light middleweight Liam Vaughan, Roach told Yahoo Philippines that Pacquiao is ready and that his condition is “one hundred percent.”

ALSO READ: Roach says Pacquiao opponent Rios 'just a tough guy'

We watched Roach and Pacquiao work on the game plan in GenSan which is patterned after the game plan they used in the 2nd round demolition of Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton. It was basically slipping punches, moving around his opponent quickly and confusing him while catching him with hooks to the side of the head and body.

Two rounds was too short to let Pacquiao’s game-plan come into full play but he said this time against Rios “I will be able to show more of that plan.”

Clearly, whatever the plan is, it won’t be an easy fight.

Roach, who previewed some of Rios’ past fights noticed that the aggressive, come-forward fighter “loves to exchange in the pocket, so we can’t stay there too long.”

However, Roach told us he’d like to see how Rios handles a fighter like Pacquiao at 147 pounds.

He believes in what Top Rank promoter Bob Arum told us during a call at the Philippine Consulate in Chicago in the buildup to the Oscar De La Hoya showdown, that “speed kills.”

Taking off on that theme Roach said Pacquiao’s “hand-speed and combinations should be too much for him (Rios)” but he did concede “the thing is Rios is durable and tough and never been knocked out so until we do that we have a lot to prove.”

ABS-CBN’s Dyan Castillejo told us from Macau on Sunday evening that Top Rank’s Lee Samuels who has spent considerable time with the Rios camp and has seen him train for the fight said that “Brandon is strong and fit and is confident he’ll win.”

Rios reflected that in what seemed like braggadocio when he told Top Rank in its special feature on the fight, “I’m not afraid of him (Pacquiao), I’ve got no respect for him.”

When asked by a Top Rank reporter why he had no respect, Rios replied, “I’m fighting this guy, I’m not his friend, he’s not my friend” although he did say that Pacquiao “is a warrior, I’m a warrior and he comes to fight.”

As the tough talk continues, excitement and interest are building up in a hurry with hundreds of Filipinos booked to fly to Macau from Manila and all over Asia to watch the fight and support Pacquiao.

Bob Arum noted that the fight had “attracted attention from all over the world and is one of the biggest sporting events ever held in Asia.”

He pointed out that Pacquiao’s “coming to China is very significant. There is no question that Manny has been popular around the world and he is a fighter who represents Asia” and since the fight is taking place in Macau “it’s why this fight is so significant. The eyes of the entire sporting world will be focused on Macau.”

Roach believes “the fans will be crazy with big-time boxing” coming to China. All that is needed is for Pacquiao to win - and win handsomely.

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.