Rios plans to bring back specter of Marquez KO

MANILA, Philippines - As soon as he lands his punches, Brandon Rios will remind Manny Pacquiao of that fateful night when he fell against Juan Manuel Marquez.

Rios, who tangles with Pacquiao in Macau next month, said he will take away Pacquiao’s confidence the moment he hits the Filipino. He even went as far as saying that he’ll be bringing Pacquiao memories of his devastating defeat to Marquez last December, wherein he suffered the worst loss of his career via a brutal sixth-round knockout.

“If Manny Pacquiao feels he has an advantage, he will change his way of thinking when he feels my punch,” Rios said in a training blog released by HBO, which will air the fight in the US on pay-per-view.

Aware of Pacquiao’s high confidence leading to the fight, Rios said everything will change for the Filipino when they start trading blows.

“He’s going to start thinking, ‘Awww man, I remember when Juan Manuel Marquez hit me like this.’ Therefore, I believe he will change his way of thinking. But it will be too late,” added the Mexican-American banger.

“Because when I’m there and I give him the first punch, I’m going to start doing what I do best. Fight, give it my all, balls out, like I always do for my fans. I leave my heart in the ring. There, he will realize he did not have the advantage,” he continued.

Rios also acknowledges the crowd support Pacquiao will be getting since the fighting congressman will be seeing action close to home, but simply brushed off his foe’s advantage.

“I am a fighter who wants to fight. Remember this, I am not fighting the crowd, I am fighting Manny Pacquiao. As far as Manny Pacquiao having the advantage, yeah I think he does have the hometown advantage, and most of the crowd might be rooting for him. But don’t rule me out,” Rios also said.

While many boxing observers view this fight as Pacquiao’s comeback and perceive Rios as someone who’ll make the Filipino look good in the ring, Rios is out to prove critics wrong.

“This is not Pacquiao’s fight, it’s Pacquiao versus Rios, and I will let the world know that on Nov. 23,” Rios ended.