Brandon Rios has a tough job ahead of him when he meets former 8 division world champion Manny Pacquiao, as he not only has to face the fighter, he also has to deal with the critics and odds makers giving him little chance to win. The biggest challenge in front of Rios is trying to out do the performance of the man Pacquiao last faced in the ring, Juan Manuel Marquez.
In part 2 of my ?On The Ropes? interview with Brandon Rios, I get his thought on some of the fighters in his weight class and if he could be targeting them next. Rios also gives insight on his training for the Pacquiao fight and what weaknesses he sees that he might be able to exploit. Additionally Brandon talks about potentially being the man to retire Manny Pacquiao and also gives a special message to his haters. Here is what Brandon Rios has to say.
Jenna: Brandon, the last time we saw you in the ring was in your rematch against Mike Alvarado. You ended up getting Pacquiao off that performance, while Alvarado got a fight Ruslan Provodnikov. I?m curious what are your thoughts on the next fight he has in front of him?
Rios: That?s gonna be one hell of a match up! We are going to see if Alvarado can stick to his game plan, and I know Provodnikov hits hard, he showed that in the Bradley fight and he has power in both hands, and we are going to see how Mike Alvarado is going to handle that. It?s gonna be a great fight though, I think it?s 50/50, it?s going to be an absolute war, it?s going to be another fight like me and Alvarado was. It?s gonna be one hell of a fight and I can?t wait to watch it. I?m a big fan of that fight.
Jenna: Another interesting fight is the match up between Timothy Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez. What do you think of this fight and are you looking at the winner?
Rios: Honestly right now, we are looking at Pacquiao only. I don?t like to look above Pacquiao, as we each have an opponent. I just look at Pacquiao only, after the fight we can talk about business. But right now that fight I give it a 50/50, I don?t know who to pick, I?m not picking anyone, I?m just picking that it should be a good fight. For myself I?m not really looking at the winner or anything like that, I?m just concentrating 100% on Pacquiao and only Pacquiao.
Jenna: Brandon speaking of your fight for Pacquaio, you just got back in camp, what are some of the goal that Robert has set you for this training camp, what are some of the things he wants you to work on in order to give you the best chance you have of beating Pacquiao?
Rios: There is a plan that we have been working on, I leave that up to Robert, as his job is to keep me ready and my job is to be ready, and that?s all I can say. I?m not going to go over and say that Robert is telling me what to do, but I know he?s got the greatest strategy and game plan.
Robert is going to have his dad in camp, we are going to have a great team. People don?t give credit to his pops, but he knows boxing well and strategy so right now we are just going over it and it?s going to suit us really well. The way he has been working out, and the way he has me, it?s going to be very good.
