By Luis Sandoval
When Manny Pacquiao faces Brandon Rios on November 23rd he will be fighting to keep his career a float and erasing the memory of him being knocked out cold almost a year ago at the hands of longtime rival Juan Manuel Marquez.
The knockout loss has been a focal point throughout the international press tour for Pacquiao-Rios and according to trainer Freddie Roach, it’s a loss they still want to avenge. In fact, Roach said he’d prefer to fight Marquez instead of Floyd Mayweather when asked which fight he’d like should they be victorious over Rios.
“At this point I think yeah [we’d rather face Marquez]. If Manny is impressive, wins by knockout and impresses the world I think people will start talking about that [Mayweather] fight again. But at this point seeing him get knocked out in his last fight, nobody is really pushing for that fight. I think a win over Marquez will push us a little bit closer” said Roach.
Pacquiao and Marquez have battled four times with the first three affairs being close and controversial as many felt the fights could’ve and probably should’ve been awarded to Marquez instead of Pacquiao.
The most definitive ending came in their latest fight when Marquez took it out of the judges hands and scored a knockout victory but Marquez made it very clear in a past interview with BoxingScene that he was not interested in a fifth fight with Pacquiao. Instead, he wanted to keep the memory intact and walk off into the sunset with that victory.
Marquez’s comments were brought up to Roach who had some choice words for Marquez.
“Yeah because the thing is before he won the last fight, he always wanted a rematch and now that its changed hands, he’s satisfied with the win. But the thing is I think we deserve one more shot back. If he doesn’t fight us I think he’s a p*ssy” fired Roach.
Before any future plans can be materialized, Pacquiao has to take care of business against a tough Brandon Rios.
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.
