I give Rios a puncher's chance in this fight, and some sort of "opponent's chin is cracked" chance. Although, it of course remains to be seen whether Pacquiao's chin is "cracked".
I don't think Rios could win any way other than through those two routes. Even if Pacquiao's chin is ruined, I don't see how or why he would be physically deteriorated to the point where he can't completely out-box and out-move Rios. Hell, he could win this fight even if his chin were cracked just due to the fact that he's so superior in every other way.
Obviously Manny had a huge KO loss, but he looked good in that fight. Rios has been in two back-to-back wars, the second of which he lost simply because the opponent decided to move a little bit. And that's after he KO'd Alvarado in the first fight, and stunned the hell out of him with a jab early in the rematch.
Rios needs a perfect confluence of events. He needs to be able to land on Pacquiao, he needs Manny's chin to be cracked, and he needs to hope Manny can't survive on his vastly superior skills alone. I don't see how that will happen, but we'll see.
If Manny loses, he should retire immediately. This is made-to-order opponent and if he can't beat the Rioses of the world anymore, he may as well get out while he can.
I don't think Rios could win any way other than through those two routes. Even if Pacquiao's chin is ruined, I don't see how or why he would be physically deteriorated to the point where he can't completely out-box and out-move Rios. Hell, he could win this fight even if his chin were cracked just due to the fact that he's so superior in every other way.
Obviously Manny had a huge KO loss, but he looked good in that fight. Rios has been in two back-to-back wars, the second of which he lost simply because the opponent decided to move a little bit. And that's after he KO'd Alvarado in the first fight, and stunned the hell out of him with a jab early in the rematch.
Rios needs a perfect confluence of events. He needs to be able to land on Pacquiao, he needs Manny's chin to be cracked, and he needs to hope Manny can't survive on his vastly superior skills alone. I don't see how that will happen, but we'll see.
If Manny loses, he should retire immediately. This is made-to-order opponent and if he can't beat the Rioses of the world anymore, he may as well get out while he can.
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