Brandon Rios is an extremely dangerous opponent. He is young, strong and has no quit in him. I raced him up the steps of the Great Wall. He’s a competitor.
I have seen Rios fight and I am confident that I will win the fight. One of my advantages is my experience against better opposition. A more diversified opposition.
Rios is an aggressive fighter. He likes to fight on the inside and toe-to-toe. He likes to fight, period. It will be a very entertaining fight for the fans. It will be all-action. A real fight and not a track meet. I am 100% confident of winning this fight. The focus of this camp has been on speed and footwork, which have been my advantages in previous successful fights. I’ll be more careful to avoid the careless error I made against Márquez.
I want to prove to everyone that I still can fight like the old Manny Pacquiao. I need to restore the public’s confidence in me and my abilities. It’s important that this be an impressive victory. I have already begun to visualize my fight with Rios.
My game plan for Rios will be similar to the one I had for Ricky Hatton. That fight didn’t go long enough for me to unveil everything. Maybe this time I’ll be able to show more of that plan. Maybe.”
Face Off: Manny Pacquiao vs Brandon Rios
24/7 Pacquiao/Rios debuts Saturday, Nov. 9 at 12:15 p.m. ET/PT on HBO.
Pacquiao vs. Rios takes place Saturday, Nov. 23 live on pay-per-view beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT.
For more coverage, check out the Official CraveOnline Boxing News Feed and visit our friends at RingTV.
Photo Credit: Getty Images / AFP/Stringer
