By Denzel: A bout between Manny Pacquiao and Brandon Rios SHOULD be made early next year. I can already hear the Floyd Mayweather fans laughing about this, taking swipes at Pacquiao for not fighting ‘Pretty Boy.’ But let’s be honest, after almost three years of attempted negotiations we are no closer to this dream fight. I think it is safe to say this fight is not going to happen, and even if it does it will not hold the historical significance it would of a few years ago. Now once everybody comes to terms with this I think fans interest will turn to more realistic fights that COULD be made.

I will make no bones about it, I think Pacquiao vs. Rios would be one hell of a fight. Is Pacquiao past it to the point were a young, hungry lion like Rios could take the W?? Has Rios got it in him to weather the Pacquiao storm, take his shots and keep coming forward?

Both these guys like to attack, with Pacquiao having the edge in a number of offensive fields, i.e hand-speed, punching power, foot movement and crucially I think Pacquiao’s in and out motion that was so crucial in his rise up the weight divisions. Pacquiao would step into range, just inside his opponents ideal range, let his hands go with a 4,5 or 6 punch combo and then step back outside, just at the perfect distance where he could wave as his opponents punches whistled by. Now Rios would have to counter this by cutting off the ring effectively, applying huge amounts of pressure and upping his punch output to at least match Manny’s.

Would Pacquiao turn back the clock with this tailor made opponent? Would Rios cause the upset and stop Pacquiao? Would Rios bodywork slow Manny’s movement and drag him into an utter war!? Lets be honest we haven’t seen Pacquiao in a PROPER barn-burner of a fight since Marquez 2, the Cotto fight was even until the 4th, after which it was just target practice for Pacquiao. Most other fighters didnt want to or straight couldn’t trade with Pacquiao. I have no doubt that Rios, with his old-school Chavez Sr type mentality would not give up and wouldn’t be scared to trade power shots.

So come on boxing fans lets make some noise about a fight that we know wouldn’t let us down, that we probably wouldn’t feel ripped off paying $40-$50 as we have been with Pacquiao’s last three or four fights.