Manny Pacquiao, right, beat the American Brandon Rios in decisive fashion Saturday night.
Credit: Getty Images
There may be life to a Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather uber fight after all.
Pacquiao met former WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios in Macau, China Saturday night U.S. time and won in a unanimous decision. The three judges scored it 120-108, 119-109 and 118-110 for a fairly easy victory for the former WBO welterweight champion.
Rios was fighting up in weight class for the first time, but it was still nice to see Pacquiao look something like his old self.
Pacquiao lost in a controversial decision to Timothy Bradley in June 2012, but even more disastrously was knocked out by Juan Manuel Marquez in his next fight in December 2012.
That sixth-round knockout made everyone wonder if the former pound-for-pound greatest in the world was on his way out. And also whether he had squandered an opportunity to meet in the fight of the generation against Mayweather.
Of course, Mayweather would have to actually agree to that fight.
But Money has continued to juke and dodge his way to a 45-0 record with recent wins over Saul Alvarez and Robert Guerrero.
It’s nice to see Pacquiao join him as a winner again, especially in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan, which devastated Pacquiao’s home country of the Philippines.
“This is not about my comeback,” Pacquiao said in the ring after the fight. “My victory is a symbol of my people’s comeback from a natural disaster and a national tragedy. My journey will continue. I said we will rise again, and that’s what happened.”
We’ll have to wait and see if that journey continues against Mayweather.
Follow Metro New York Sports Editor Mark Osborne on Twitter @MetroNYSports. He would still definitely welcome a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight.
