By Chris Williams: Brandon Rios (31-1-1, 23 KO’s) is giving up a lot in the speed department in his fight this Saturday night against Manny Pacquiao (54-5-2, 38 KO’s) in Macao, China. It’s something that many boxing fans will put Rios at a huge disadvantage in this fight, and this is one of the major reasons why Rios is considered a huge underdog.
Rios is not worried about it at all, as he feels that he’s going to adapt and make adjustments to Pacquiao’s speed just like he did in his fight with the much faster Miguel Acosta back in 2011. Rios struggled in the first 3 rounds, but then he adjusted and was able to take over the fight and stop Acosta in the 10th round. Acosta was never the same fighter after that bout.
Rios said to USAtoday.com “When I fought Miguel Acosta, I wasn’t quick, and Miguel Acosta was tremendously fast. I took him out in the 10th round. I stopped him. You can always defeat quickness. There’s a ways to counter it. When I fought Acosta I did counter his punches a lot, and I practiced a lot of that quickness.”
Rios seemed to time Acosta in that fight and nail him when he would come forward to try and land his own shots. At the same time, Rios was able to trap him and force him to fight in a toe-to-toe battle. That enabled Rios to get in some big shots that stunned Acosta. Rios was still getting hit a lot by him, but the difference was he was able to take Acosta’s best shots but it wasn’t the same the other way around.
Pacquiao might be in the same boat as Acosta with his fast hands, but his inability to take Rios’ punches except for just a short period of time. Pacquiao better hope that his trainer Freddie Roach has been stressing defense the entire camp rather than offense, because this could go really badly for him if he stands in front of Rios for long and tries to fight like he’s still a young fighter. Pacquiao is a 35-year-old with a lot of mileage on him, and he’s probably not going to be able to handle Rios’ power if he tries to fight like he used to.
I think Pacquiao’s ability to handle hard shots has been compromised, and he might find out the hard way that he’s no longer the same fighter he once was when it comes to taking hard shots. Without a chin, Pacquiao’s effectiveness will be greatly reduced and he’ll have to run for 12 rounds in order to survive and maybe get a decision win. Pacquiao won’t do that, because that’s not know he is.
That’s why he might see him on the canvas getting counted out on Saturday night. It looks like he’s had too many big fights and taken too many big shots for him to fight like he once did. If Rios is able to KO him, Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum is going to need to re-think a lot of the fights he wants to put him in with, because he might not last as a PPV fighter for long if he keeps getting knocked out. As it is, it’s difficult to imagine too many boxing fans getting excited at paying to see a fight between two guys coming off of losses, and with one of them – Pacquiao – having lost his last two fights. To make matters worse, the undercard for the fight leaves a lot to be desired because of the absence of big names and competitive match-ups.
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