By Chris Williams: Michael Koncz, the adviser for Manny Pacquiao (54-5-2, 38 KO’s), feels that Manny needs to get a big win over former WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios (31-1-1, 23 KO’s) on November 23rd for some reason. Pacquiao was knocked out badly in his last fight by Juan Manuel Marquez last December and there are major questions about whether Pacquiao still has it.
It wasn’t just the knockout that leaves you wondering, it’s the way that Pacquiao looked in getting dropped earlier in that fight, and how he looked in his fight with Tim Bradley.
Koncz said to Tempo.com.ph “Manny’s doing everything possible to get back on track. There is no hanky panky. I talked to him and he knows the magnitude of this fight. He knows that a win won’t be enough. He has to win big.”
Pacquiao turns 35 in December and you can’t expect him to be be the same fighter he once was at that age. About the only thing that Koncz can hope for is Pacquiao to look as good as he did in the 3rd fight with Marquez in November of 2011, and Pacquiao didn’t look good in that fight in winning a controversial 12 round majority decision in a fight that boxing fans felt that Marquez should have won. But Pacquiao looked much better in that fight than he did in his last two fights with Bradley and Marquez.
It’s probable that Koncz realizes that Pacquiao needs to beat Rios decisively to convince boxing fans that he’s not an over-the-hill fighter and that he’s still relevant in the welterweight division. But at the end of the day it may not even matter because even if Pacquiao does dominate Rios, it’s doubtful there will be any big names for Pacquiao to fight for the remainder of his career unless Floyd Mayweather Jr. decides to give him a shot.
Other than that, Pacquiao is pretty much going to be stuck fighting these Top Rank stable fighters over and over until he retires – Rios, Mike Alvarado and Tim Bradley. Those aren’t big names and it’s too bad that the prospects of Pacquiao getting a really big fight against the likes of Mayweather or Saul “Canelo” Alvarez are so slim.
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