Former world champion Amir Khan was really impressed Manny Pacquiao’s performance against Brandon Rios. Coming off a hard knockout loss and going into the ring against a hard puncher like Rios could have proven costly for Pacquiao but instead it was a great test for himself and his mind.
“I was quite impressed with his performance especially coming off a really bad knockout,” said Khan. “You know Manny Pacquiao was knocked out cold against Marquez. You think in the back of his mind he was gonna still be scared but nah man. Manny came out. He did what he had to do. You can only do what your opponent gives you.”
And what did his opponent do? Rios stood in front of Pacquiao and wanted to trade blows as he always does.
“His opponent stood in front of him, tried to fight him and Manny Pacquiao fought him back and beat him to every punch. Every round Manny won.”
It has been said that Pacquiao has lost his hunger for the sport and lacked a killer instinct in the ring. After all he hasn’t knocked out and opponent since ought Miguel Cotto. Was there anything different in the fight with Rios? He did not get the knockout but Khan feels that hunger is back in his old training partner.
“He seemed different in that last fight, like he wanted it. The hunger was there. People might want to see Manny get into wars but nah, Manny just had to win the fight and that’s what he did. He won every round.”
The choices for Pacquiao’s next opponent are slim since Top Rank will not due a joint venture Golden Boy or even Mayweather Promotions and vice versa. Pacquiao could fight for a fifth time against Marquez or even go for Alvarado or Provodnikov but Amir Khan believes a fight with Bradley makes more sense.
“I think a Tim Bradley fight makes sense. He is a Top Rank fighter and they normally stay within their own stable.”
