Manny Pacquiao had one year to privately stew about assertions that he was washed up as a boxer.
In his first fight since getting knocked out cold by Juan Manuel Marquez, Pacquiao proved that he was far from done, emphatically dismantling Brandon Rios on his way to a convincing unanimous decision victory in Macau.
Despite being an overwhelming favorite leading up to the fight, questions on whether his heart was still in the sport had been a running storyline since that fateful night in Las Vegas last November.
His day job as a politician in the Philippines has seemingly taken up most of his time and attention. But more importantly for boxing fans, questions on how he could come back after such a brutal knockout was on everybody’s mind, and for good reason. Nobody was used to seeing Pacquiao lying motionless in the ring after walking into a vicious Marquez right hand.
But none of those things mattered Sunday morning in Macau. Everyone saw the Manny Pacquaio we were all used to. He didn’t look like that buzzsaw in his 2008-2010 peak, but he was still as sharp as a tack, relying on his unrelenting speed and superior boxing skill to continuously stymie and beat up a befuddled Rios.
With this dominant display, Pacquiao’s name once again shoots back up the boxing ladder and whispers of a potential mega-fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. is likewise gaining some steam.
We’ve all been through this merry-go-round before and we’re not holding our breath that the fight will come close to getting made. Pacquiao, Roach, and Bob Arum said all the right things pertaining to potential discussions with Floyd’s camp, but that’s really nothing new.
We’ll believe the fight will happen when both fighters sign a contract. Until then, we’re all just happy to see Manny Pacquiao back in his dominating best. Floyd may be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world today, but he’s got a long way to go to supplant Pacquiao as the most exciting one to watch.
Welcome back, PacMan.
