Pacquiao-Rios Implications

  • Added:
    Nov 23, 2013
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Pacquiao-Rios Implications Photo by Lemmy Morrie

The fight that many boxing fans have been waiting for is finally at the doorstep as Manny Pacquiao is set to come back to the ring against Brandon Rios this weekend. There are many perceptions going around this fight. There are those that are thinking that this is going to be an easy fight for Pacquiao while there are others who believe that Rios poses a serious level of danger.

Personally, I believe that this fight carries a certain risk for Pacquiao, not only about his health and safety but also to his career. A loss or an underwhelming performance in this fight could mean the end for him.

Many expects that the speed of Pacquiao gives him a clear advantage over the aggressive Rios. If the former can't dominate the latter, that means his speed which has always been his advantage is no longer there and should be enough of a reason to quit the sport.

The situation is very different for Rios who is still quite young and has only lost once in his boxing career. Even if he loses this fight, boxing fans will quickly attribute it to having fought a much better fighter. If he wins, he gets to start his own legend. Unless he gets brutally beaten, there's really no other direction for  his career to go to after this fight but up.

Prediction

Given his speed advantage, I expect Pacquiao to keep on moving to avoid getting into a slugfest and attack like he always does, leaping in to throw some punches and then getting back out. This is going to be a problem for Rios who hasn't really been good at fighting opponents who keep on moving. He is also not that good defensively. Although he has mentioned in recent interviews that he has been training and developing skills to deal with constantly moving boxers, given the short period of time, I find it hard to believe that he has improved enough to add this newly-earned skill into his arsenal.

The only way Pacquiao can lose this fight is if he is stupid enough to try and slug it out with a younger fighter like Rios. Otherwise, Pacquiao should be able to win this one.

Betting

Pacquiao is a heavy favorite heading into the fight. You can check out the online betting boxing section of one of the best online bookmakers in Australia to find out about the current odds or if you want to bet on the fight.

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You can check out the online betting boxing section of one of the best online bookmakers in Australia to find out about the current odds or if you want to bet on the fight.


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