By Edward Chaykovsky
Winning is not enough, says eight division world champion Manny Pacquiao (54-5-2, 38KOs). He wants to have a very impressive performance after suffering back to back defeats in 2012. On November 23rd in Macau, China - he will face once-beaten puncher Brandon Rios (31-1-1, 23 KOs). Rios suffered his first career loss earlier this year, when Mike Alvarado was awarded a close twelve round decision in their rematch. To prove his skills are still there, Pacquiao says he needs to knock Rios out. Pacquiao wants to put last December's knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez behind him.
"[Regarding the Marquez loss], you forget about it and move on. It only makes me more hungry. It makes me want to get back to being the best. But winning this fight won't be enough - I have to win big. I want to put on a good show for everybody in China and around the world. To do that, I have to knock him out," Pacquiao told China Daily.
After losing a twelve round decision, controversially, to Timothy Bradley last June - he then returned and suffered the Marquez KO defeat. His trainer, Freddie Roach, does not view those performances as a sign that Pacquiao is getting old.
"People look at those two losses and automatically conclude they happened because Manny is getting old," said Roach. "I don't see it that way. Everybody thought he beat Bradley, so you can throw that one out the window. And against Marquez he was winning, probably on his way to a KO, when he made a mistake and ran into a good shot. Hey, that's boxing. It didn't happen because Manny's not as sharp as he used to be; it happened because he made a mistake. And when you make a mistake against a puncher like Marquez, you pay for it."
