Fans wanted KO but still pleased with Pacquiao win

MANILA, Philippines —  While the fight didn’t end up with Brandon Rios slumped on the canvas as what his fans had wanted, Manny Pacquiao was still able to chalk up as good a comeback as any.

The Filipino boxing legend turned his opponent into something that the Mexican-American swore, repeatedly in this training camp, that we has not a mere punching bag.

“He was great, he really fought well,” said William Rikh, an Australian who has been residing in the country for six years. “He’s known to be quick and fast on his feet and he didn’t disappoint us.”

“‏He’s maybe not as explosive as he was before but he’s still pretty good!” @rvener tweeted after the fight.

“He showed he hasn’t lost step,” also said @SamOberes on Twitter.

Through 12 rounds, a cunning Pacquiao peppered the younger yet bigger Rios with combinations of punches in blurring speed.  Midway into the fight, Rios’ face has swollen up while Pacquiao still looked like he had just stepped into the ring.

But fans were looking for a resounding knockout, but Manny Pacquiao — it turned out — was not.

Because the last time Pacquiao went for it, he was at the receiving end – sprawled motionless on the floor with his face down and his arms bent awkwardly.

He, admittedly, held back “a little” from finishing  Rios off in the latter stages of the fight.

“It’s the last round, I don’t want to get careless, so I back off a little. Boxing is not about killing people,” Pacquiao said in the post-fight press conference, as posted by Top Rank Boxing.

Some of the spectators understood that move from Pacquiao.

“Rios was on the defensive mode all through out the fight. Last few rounds of the fight, we saw that Manny was pitying his opponent already,” John Gomez, who watched the fight in Bugsy’s Bar and Bistro in Makati said.

“We saw today a wiser Pacman, learned his lessons well in the pass. Still unpredictable,” @JdLCruz41 on twitter.

“He had no intentions of knocking out Rios, just played it smart,” @abbiedoobydoo echoed.

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