He's back.
Filipino fighting icon Manny Pacquiao thoroughly outboxed American Brandon Rios en route to a unanimous decision victory at the CotaiArena in Macau, China in his first fight since a horrendous knockout loss in December last year and putting a stop to any talk about his decline.
"This isn't about my comeback," Pacquiao said as quoted by Yahoo! Sports. "My victory is a symbol of my people's comeback from a disaster, a national tragedy." Pacquiao referred to his countrymen in the Philippines which was recently devastated by Typhoon Haiyan.
In cruising to the one-sided victory over Rios, Pacquiao also dispelled doubts that he was no longer the same boxer who won titles in eight different weight divisions especially after that memorable loss to Juan Manuel Marquez of Mexico last year.
The final score card read 120-108, 119-108 and 118-110 all for Pacquiao.
Rios, who prior to the fight vowed to end the Filipino star's career, paid tribute to his opponent afterwards. "I just got beat by one of the best fighters in the world. He came with a game plan. He executed it and won the fight. He's very fast and has a lot of different angles. He's difficult to box against."
His trainer, Robert Garcia, echoed these statements saying Pacquiao still has a lot left in the gas. "He has a lot of quickness and speed. He'll be around a long time with a lot more fights."
Pacquiao's trainer, Hall of Famer Freddie Roach, was ecstatic about the victory. He told Yahoo! Sports: "All I can say is, many, many punches. He fought the perfect fight. The body shots killed him. Manny let him off the hook. I wanted him to knock him out."
Although Pacquiao failed to knock out Rios, his win was so dominant that Rios' eyes were swelling badly by the fourth round and a cut had opened two rounds later.
Pacquiao's legendary career thus continues, and he will fight again on April 12 against a yet-to-be-decided opponent. Some quarters hope it would finally be Floyd Mayweather, Jr, and Pacquiao reiterated his desire to fight the unbeaten American.
"Anybody who will fight with me, I will fight. I'm willing to fight Floyd, but it's up to him," he said at the post-fight press conference.
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