By Chris Williams: Brandon Rios (31-1-1, 23 KO’s) thinks one of the main reasons he was picked out to fight Manny Pacquiao (54-5-2, 38 KO’s) on November 23rd is because Team Pacquiao see him another slow, easy to hit Antonio Margarito type of fighter.
In other words, a fighter that just plods forward slowly, blocking punches with face, and having slow hand speed that enables Pacquiao to easily avoid most of his shots. Rios doesn’t see himself as that type of fighter, and he plans on upsetting Pacquiao’s plans to end his 2-fight losing streak.
Rios said to ESPN “I think and I felt that his [Pacquiao] camp see me as another Margarito. [Someone that’s] just coming forward, and just taking a beating. That’s not going to happen. I’m younger, and I’m coming in and I want the fame.”
I believe that Rios is right about that. He is perceived a lot of people as an easy to hit guy that plods forward in the same manner as Margarito did. Rios isn’t quite as tall as Margarito, and doesn’t have his long arms, or his ability to throw a ton of punches per round. But there is the perfection out there that Rios is someone that can be out-boxed, and beaten up if you mix it up with him.
Where this may backfire on Pacquiao is with the reality that he’s going to have to take a lot of head shots from Rios in order to try and turn him into another Margarito. Even in his win over Margarito, Pacquiao took a lot of punishment. But that three years ago, and Pacquiao isn’t the same fighter he was then. If you want to see Rios as another Margarito, then he’s a better version with superior power and slightly better hand speed.
Rios doesn’t seem to puff up the way that Margarito did when hit around the eyes. It’s not going to be easy to turn Rios into another Margarito, because he’s arguably a superior fighter than he was. Margarito was 32 when he fought Pacquiao, and had a lot of mileage on him. Rios is only 27, and he’s fighting a nearly 35-year-old Pacquiao. That’s not good for Pacquiao.
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