By Ken Wills: What I can’t understand is why Bob Arum would put his most exciting young Mexican fighter Brandon Rios in there with Manny Pacquiao at this point after his first loss. If the Pacquiao that fought Juan Manuel Marquez in the 4th fight shows up, it’s going to be a very long night for Rios. Brandon Rios is basically a smaller version of Antonio Margarito; he has all the heart in the world and is willing to take shot after shot in order to land one.
The only hope Rios has is that Manny can’t take a shot and will be hurt every time he lands, which is possible but not probable in my opinion.
Pacquiao in the 4th fight versus Marquez was on a seek and destroy mission and was on his way to a spectacular knockout when “the perfect punch” was landed by 39-year-old Juan “Mike Tyson” Marquez. He looked powerful, fast and determined up until that point. But, Marquez is a boxer/counter-puncher which is what it takes to beat Manny. If your going to beat the Pac Man you need speed and timing, both of which Rios does not possess. I believe Manny Pacquiao will look like the Manny of old in this fight because Rios is taylor made for his style.
So why would Bob Arum match Brandon Rios a future superstar of boxing with Manny Pacquiao and possibly ruin his career? Especially if he takes a beating like Margarito did. Well, the same reason Bob does everything to keep the fights in house. Even with all the talent at 140, Rios will not have the chance to fight any off them because they are all with Golden Boy Promotions. So he’s betting that Manny has slipped enough that he won’t be able to knock out Brandon Rios and if that’s the case and Rios can make it a fight, we will all forget about old Marquez and boring Bradley. You can look forward to Pacquiao/Rios 2, 3, 4, etc etc.
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