MACAU—There will be no surprises for Manny Pacquiao when he tangles with Brandon Rios on Nov. 24 here.
Leaving no bases uncovered, Pacquiao spent three months, the last six weeks with chief trainer Freddie Roach, preparing for his comeback fight at The Venetian Macao.
“It’s one of the longest training camps I’ve ever had,” Pacquiao, who is aching to bounce back from a stunning knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez last December said yesterday.
The strategy, according to Pacquiao, focused on speed, power and side-to-side (movement) while studying Rios’ style closely.
Rios is regarded as a clone of stablemate Antonio Margarito, who was dominated by Pacquiao three years ago—a come-forward, no let-up fighter.
“If he decides to go toe-to-toe, I’m prepared for that,” said Pacquiao, who spent some time watching tapes of Rios’ previous fights. “If he wants to box, that’s fine.”
Pacquiao stressed, however, that he isn’t underestimating Rios, who’s also coming off a unanimous decision loss to Mike Alvarado middle of the year.
While Rios boasted in earlier reports that he’s going to send Pacquiao into retirement, the eight-division world champion replied cautiously.
“Only God will know when I’ll retire,” said Pacquiao, adding that he’d rather let his fists do the talking in the ring.