Manny Pacquiao's last fight on pay per view disappointed at the box office, coming in at around 475,000 buys, but HBO hopes for a much better result Saturday in the rematch with Tim Bradley. The main reason? This event is on American soil.
HBO and Showtime were the only American networks whose boxing content garnered consideration for the 35th Annual Sports Emmy® Awards. HBO’s boxing programs earned the network four of its 17 overall nominations – including Outstanding Live Sports Series (HBO Boxing) – while Showtime’s ‘All Access’ series was recognized among its eight total entries. Nominations for all categories were released Wednesday morning by the National Academy of Television Arts & Science.
On Friday, Dec. 13, the boxing world was caught off guard when it was revealed that former lightweight titlist Brandon Rios had failed his post-fight drug test following his defeat to Manny Pacquiao. Rios, who dropped a unanimous decision to Pacquiao on Nov. 23 in Macau, China, was found to have traces of methylhexaneamine in his system. The drug is commonly associated with dietary purposes. While not too much was heard from Rios in the wake of his failed test, he has since opened up on the issue.
The China Professional Boxing Association (CPBO) chairman Zhang Tao has suspended the boxing license of Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios until April 24, 2014 based on a report by the Volunteer Anti Doping Agency which stated that tests conducted following the WBO International title fight against “Fighter of the Decade” Manny Pacquiao showed that Rios “had performing enhancing drugs in his system at the time of the contest.”
The fallout from welterweight Brandon Rios’ positive drug test for the stimulant DMAA following his unanimous decision loss to Manny Pacquiao on Nov. 23 continues to ripple through the ranks, and now members of the boxing world have begun to offer their takes on the matter. Nutritionist Victor Conte, who admittedly has an adverse relationship with Rios’ strength and conditioning coach, Alex Ariza, took aim at Ariza’s methods in a Friday conversation with BoxingScene.com
With the news that Brandon Rios tested positive for a banned substance called dimenthylamylamine (DMAA) in a test taken following his Nov. 23 decision loss to Manny Pacquiao, a group of reporters spoke with Rios’ strength and conditioning coach, Alex Ariza, and Rios’ trainer, Robert Garcia. Both men are in San Antonio for Marcos Maidana’s bout Saturday night against Adrien Broner.
The worst year of Brandon Rios’ boxing career can’t end soon enough. The aftermath of his one-sided points loss to Manny Pacquiao last month in Macau grew that much worse in the aftermath, when it was learned that the former 140 lb. titlist failed his post-fight urinalysis. The final of five tests conducted under an agreement with Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency (VADA) turned up traces of banned substance methylexanamine, also known as dimenthylamylamine (DMAA), which is commonly used as a dietary supplement.
Manny Pacquiao’s ring return served its purpose only in that it put the former eight-division champion back in the win column for the first time in more than two years. Beyond that, his near-shutout of Brandon Rios may wind up having done more harm than good. Speculation continues to run rampant over how well – or poor – the November 23 pay-per- view event drew, airing live from CotaiArena at the Venetian Macao in Macau, China. Reports from Top Rank’s offices suggest figures in the vicinity of 500,000 units sold, which – even if accurate – would make for his lowest pay-per-view output since his June ’08 lightweight belt winning effort over David Diaz.
Ryan Burton catches up with trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr. to discuss Manny Pacquiao's recent victory over Brandon Rios, a possible fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Amir Khan, and Mayweather Sr. breaks down what Khan brings to the table in the fight.
While there is plenty of room to debate just how ‘back’ Manny Pacquiao is from a knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez, his return was a successful one on Saturday. Brandon Rios, like Pacquiao, entered off a loss but was the younger, presumed hungrier man. He was out of his class. Fans got a reminder this weekend. Even in his inevitable decline period, Pacquiao is coming down from a level few achieve. This is one of the great ones. Greatness can take a long time to fade. Let’s go to the report card.