Manny "Pac-Man" Pacquiao beat Brandon "Bam Bam" Rios like a drum on Sunday in Macao, China. Only some of the answers that skeptics had for Pac-Man heading into the bout were answered, but you won't find a more lopsided decision. Many wanted to know how Pacquiao would react once he took a hard shot. We'll have to wait until his next fight to answer that question.
Rios barely mussed his hair.
Somehow, one of the judges found a way to award Rios a round—another gave him two, but that doesn't detract from how dominating Pac-Man was. What do we take from this epic beatdown? First and foremost, Pacquiao's speed is still intact.
Hand Speed and Movement
Pac-Man utilized more movement against Rios than I can ever remember seeing from him. He danced laterally and kept his head on a swivel. Rios is slow as molasses, and Pacquiao was never there to be hit.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Pacquiao's performance was his hand speed. He fired shots from a multitude of angles and with great velocity. It made me think of the joke from the legendary Richard Pryor. The comedian described the speed of Muhammad Ali's punches by saying the shots were so fast, you don't see them until they're coming back.
Rios can relate.
Pacquiao's Poise
Rios didn't do anything to upset Pac-Man's mental rhythm, but the Filipino legend did a great job boxing and sticking to his game plan. He truly fought in a manner that said, "if the knockout comes then fine, but I won't chase it."
Usually Manny starts the fight out this way, and the moment he tastes the power of his opponent, he slams his gloves together and begins to brawl. Rios never gave him a reason to slam his gloves together, but Pacquiao still deserves credit for keeping his composure and not becoming overzealous.
Rios Hit His Ceiling...Hard
You'll be hard-pressed to find an instance where a 27-year-old former world champion is this severely outclassed. Rios looked like he should still be wearing headgear in the Olympics in this fight.
One could attribute it to the fact that he fought a future Hall of Famer, but since Rios has already been a world champion, he has to have his sights set on bigger and better things. His performance on Sunday clearly proved he'll never be elite.
Pacquiao Needs One Big Win to Officially Rekindle the Floyd Mayweather Talks
There are a lot of negotiations and posturing that will have to take place, but if Pacquiao scores a win over an impressive opponent like Juan Manuel Marquez or Timothy Bradley, he will have proven he's a worthy challenger for Floyd Mayweather again.
Rios wasn't expected to be on Pacquiao's level, and that's exactly how the fight looked. Judging by the public attention and media coverage, the fight was a huge financial and commercial success for Pacquiao.
That means a fight with Mayweather would again represent the type of enormous payday that'll be hard for either man to turn down. It's too early to get too excited, but this was perhaps the beginning of the fight becoming a serious possibility again.
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