The Filipino Congressman showed that he had lost none of his speed at 34. He danced his way to victory, winning every round wide on my card.
Rios struggled to get to grips with Pacquiao’s elusiveness.
Rios, 27, took the best Pacquiao could dish out. He still kept coming but ultimately didn’t possess the skill necessary skills to fend off the ‘Pacman’ attacks.
Attempting to return fire with telling shots of his own, Rios seemed out-gunned.
Round after round was banked by Pacquiao to the delight of the Partizan crowd. Rios consistently had his head rocked back.
Seeming flat-footed at times, Rios attempted to get inside and trade punches.
Into the last third of ‘The Clash in Cotai’ and Rios began to look battered and beaten. He displayed the obvious signs that Pacquiao can still systematically take fighters apart as he did before suffering back-to-back losses.
MANNY PACQUIAO vs MARQUEZ
In December, Manny Pacquiao’s crushing KO defeat to Juan Manuel Marquez seemed a distant memory. The eight-weight champion went to work on Rios and duly did a number on him from beginning to end.
A rematch with nemesis Timothy Bradley in the summer or whispering quietly, a fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. could be on the cards.
Pacquiao banked a 120-108, 119-109, and 118-110 win on the scorecards, returning to form in style.
I had a complete shut-out of 120-108.
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