Roach doesn’t want Pacquiao to stand in front of Rios for any length of time

By Boxing News - 07/15/2013 - Comments

pac8By Chris Williams: Manny Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach says his fighter can’t afford to stand in front of the hard hitting Brandon Rios (31-1-1, 23 KO’s) on November 23rd at the Cotai Arena, Venetian Resort, Macao, Macao S.A.R., China. Although Roach thinks Rios is made to order for Pacquiao (54-5-2, 38 KO’s), he still doesn’t want Manny to be standing in front of him for too.

Remembering how Pacquiao’s last fight against Juan Manuel Marquez, ended, it’s not hard to understand why Roach is so concerned about Pacquiao not standing in front of Rios for too long.

Roach said to esnewsreporting “I think it was real good for Manny to rest for a while…I can’t wait to shut him [Rios] up. You don’t want to exchange too much with him. You want to get in and get out. You don’t want to stand in the pocket for too long. Rios is very good in the pocket. He’ll follow you around and go for one shot. You can’t stand there and get away with that. He’s a better style for us.”

Rios is a better style than Juan Manuel Marquez for sure, but he may not be a better style for a fighter as old and with as much ring wear as Pacquiao has.
Pacquiao will be a month shy of his 35th birthday when he steps inside of the ring Rios on November 23rd, and you might as well think of Pacquiao as a 35-year-old fighter. That’s not young for a smaller fighter. For a heavyweight, 35 isn’t that old if it’s a heavyweight that had good skills to begin with, but even for heavyweights, 35 is old if the fighter didn’t have a good game to begin with.

It may not matter that Pacquiao won’t be standing in the pocket that much. He’ll still be easy to time for Rios when he does come forward. Rios isn’t a novice fighter and he does know how to time fighters that use the in and out style.

Pacquiao’s problem is he’s going to attack Rios sooner or later by standing in front of him a long time, and that might be all it takes for Rios to land a big shot on Pacquiao’s chin and send him falling to the canvas out cold.

Pacquiao was knocked out badly in his last fight against Marquez in December, and getting hit by a puncher like Rios could be all it takes for him to get knocked out again.



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