It has been 11 months since Manny Pacquiao was knocked out by Mexican rival Juan Manuel Marquez, which lead many to believe that retirement was on the brink for the Filipino boxing sensation. On Saturday, Pacquiao, 34, will attempt to prove cynics wrong when he takes on Brandon Rios, an American boxer seven years his junior, at Cotai Arena in Macau. Pacquiao, who won 10 world titles in eight weight classes, has been consistently ranked as one of the best boxers of his generation.
Although he is coming off consecutive defeats, which include a highly-controversial split-decision loss to Timothy Bradley in June 2012, the fighter known as "Pac-man" isn't letting the defeats rattle his confidence. "I lost. My next fight, I'm not thinking I'm scared because I'm going to get hit again," Pacquiao said in the HBO video series, "24/7 Pacquiao/Rios." This is Manny's first fight outside of the US since 2006 when he beat Oscar Larios in the Philippines. Rios on the other hand has fought twice outside the US in his career with wins in Mexico in 2008 and 2009.
Rios, nicknamed "Bam-Bam" for his straight-ahead fighting style, has only lost once, which was a unanimous decision to Mike Alvarado in March. Critics believe Rios's style is tailor-made for the quick Pacquiao, a notion Rios has brushed off. "It's okay, there's always going to be criticism out there, there is criticism for everything I do," he said To USA Today Sports. "It actually motivates me even more. And it gives me the [motivation] to prove everybody wrong. When I fight the best, they always bring the best out of me."
Pacquiao, who is guaranteed $18 million for the fight and could earn more than $30 million, and his team know the stakes are high. Freddie Roach, Pacquiao's personal trainer, believes that "Manny can outbox him and he can do it with ease," but realizes the end may be near if things don't go well against Rios. "If I see he is slowing down and slipping in the fight, I will be the first one to tell him" to retire, Roach said in an interview with Sports Illustrated.
Roach, 53, continued, saying, "We have an agreement that I will tell him that and he will retire. I don't see him slipping in the gym at this moment, and he's doing really well. He's fired up and anxious to get back in the ring and I see good things. But if things don't go well, we will talk about retirement." Manny Pacquiao vs Brandon Rios airs tonight November 23,2013 on HBO PayPer View. Check out all alternative streaming methods here.
Also weighing in will be the undercard fighters. Zou Shiming (2-0) faces Juan Tozcano (4-0, 1 KO) in a six-round flyweight bout; Evgeny Gradovich (17-0, 8 KO) defends his IBF featherweight title against Billy Dib (36-2, 21 KO) in a rematch from their March bout; and heavyweights Andy Ruiz Jr (20-0, 14 KO) and Tor Hamer (21-2, 14 KO) meet in a 10-round bout.
- Where: The Venetian Macao in Macau, China
- When: Saturday, Nov. 23 at 9 p.m. ET
- Watch: HBO PPV
- Stream: Replay on HBO GO
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