By Chris Williams: Brandon Rios (31-1-1, 23 KO’s) figures that the only reason he was given a big money fight against Manny Pacquiao (54-5-2, 38 KO’s) on November 24th this year is because Rios is coming off of a loss to Mike Alvarado in a fight that he didn’t look good in last March.
Rios said to the bostonherald.com “He [Pacquiao] picked me because I lost. They probably think ‘Brandon is easy to hit. Brandon gets hit all the time.’ It’s a very different story when you get in the ring with me…they made a mistake picking me.”
Well, to be honest, Rios is very easy to hit, so I can understand that part of him being selected. I don’t think that’s the entire reason he was hand-picked by Pacquiao.
The other reason is he doesn’t move well and he’s not someone that is going to try and out-box Pacquiao like Tim Bradley or Mike Alvarado, although Pacquiao would have had no problems fighting either of those guys. Rios was perfect for Pacquiao given that he won’t have to go looking for him and he doesn’t counter punch like Juan Manuel Marquez.
Rios is dangerous for Pacquiao because of his power. He’s not going to be making the Filipino miss with his punches and he’s not going to impress him with his defensive skills.
What Rios has going for him in this fight is he can take a hell of a punch without getting hurt and he can return fire with a lot of power. With Pacquiao coming off of a knockout loss to Marquez, this is a very dangerous fight for him to be in with a guy like Rios.
If this fight takes place three years ago, Pacquiao would treat him like Antonio Margarito part #2. It would be an easy fight for Pacquiao, but that’s probably not the case right now. Pacquiao looks like he’s lost a few steps and his reaction time to right hands looked slowed in his last couple of fights.
If Pacquiao doesn’t react well to Rios’ right hands, then we could see him getting knocked out because Rios hits every bit as hard as Marquez, and we saw what Marquez was able to do to Pacquiao.
Pacquiao and Rios will be fighting on November 24th at the Cotai Arena, Venetian Resort, Macao, Macao S.A.R., China. This will enable Pacquiao to avoid the U.S taxes for the money he makes from the U.S pay per view sales. The U.S doesn’t require that the money be taxed if a foreign fighter is outside of the U.S. It’s unclear how long this kind of tax break will remain in effect in the future, however.
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