Here’s what helped Rios survive

MACAU—Manny Pacquiao  said his opponent proved an unusually easy target yesterday but readily denied Brandon Rios managed to survive because he (Pacquiao) intentionally pulled his punches.

“Thank God, He heard our prayers that we will rise again,” Pacquiao, in green T-shirt and matching light jacket, told the media, who had to wait for nearly two hours in the postfight interview hall.

Bob Arum, apologizing for Pacquiao, blasted authorities who finally allowed Pacquiao to go only after the boxing hero had submitted urine samples twice following the draining 12-round contest.

Asked if he had experienced difficulty against Rios, Pacquiao, with visible swelling on his right eye,  brought the house down with one witty remark: “It was difficult because he was very easy to hit.”

Was there, therefore, credence to suspicions he softened up in the final round to let the troubled Rios off the hook?

“Boxing, if I may repeat, is not about killing each other; it’s a sports contest and I was already safely ahead, ” he explained—and left it at that.

However, it could not be denied the reason the badly outboxed Rios managed to finish on his feet was because Pacquiao took pity on the hapless Mexican-American slugger.

“Naawa daw siya (He took pity on Rios),” one trusted Pacquiao adviser and friend told the Inquirer.

But wasn’t that equal—or even worse—to holding back during a fight?

“Manny said he could have taken Rios out at least a couple of times earlier—in the seventh and ninth rounds—but did not pursue a knockout knowing he could win easily by points,” explained the informer who’ll have to remain anonymous for the meantime. (He has recorded Pacquiao’s explanation.)

Wasn’t it out of fear he could’ve run into a wayward punch, similar to the one that stopped him cold and frozen in losing against Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez last year?

“Far from it, he was very much in control and was truly certain Rios could not throw a killer punch of the Marquez kind. He simply took pity, naawa daw siya,” the trusted Pacquiao friend explained.

Assured lawyer Romy Macalintal, who watched the one-sided action at ringside here with his wife and a son: “Surely, what’s the use hurting your opponent when you know you are leading by a mile, without any danger whatsoever?”

The human and compassionate side of Manny helped Brandon Rios survive to hopefully improve his career, Makalintal concluded.