By Luis Sandoval
They say all things that go up must come down and for Manny Pacquiao who once dominated the sport of boxing, that seems to be the case for him at the moment. Seeing great fighters fall from the top is nothing new but Pacquiao feels he can still bounce back from his devastating knockout lost to Juan Manuel Marquez last December.
“This is not the first time it’s happened in my boxing career. When I lost [before] it was the same thing. It was like that” said Pacquiao.
Pacquiao suffered two knock out losses much earlier in his career and he points to those as examples of being able to come back to top form despite the setbacks. He chalks up his latest knockout loss to “it happens in boxing” and feels he still possesses the same traits that made him a great fighter.
“I have confidence in my ability. If we look back at my last fight, my condition, my aggressiveness and my killer instinct is there. My killer instinct and aggressiveness is back and it’s just what happened in the 6th round” said Manny during his last press conference in Los Angeles.
Manny feels there will be no lingering effects from the knockout as some fighters have shown in the past who are returning from similar losses. Some question if Pacquiao should’ve taken an easier foe as Rios is a tough fight and one that will cause Pacquiao to go right back into the fire.
For Pacquiao however, that’s exactly what he thinks he needs. He’s not just trying to show he’s the same fighter of old; he’s also trying to regain the people’s trust in him.
“I can easily choose an easy opponent. Choose a tune up fight but I chose to fight Brandon Rios. I chose to fight a good fighter and aggressive fighter. That’s how I can get it back. That’s how I can get back the trust and confidence of the fans”.
This isn’t just a must win fight for Pacquiao but also one for his opponent as Rios is also coming off a loss to Mike Alvarado earlier this year. With both men’s back against the wall, the stakes are high and it’s hard to imagine this fight not being action packed.
You can follow Luis Sandoval on Twitter @Truewest007 and you can listen to BoxingScene’s official radio show every Tuesday from 6-8PM PST with hosts Ernest Gabion, Luis Sandoval, and Ryan Burton.