SO THE wifey and I are back in Macau, the City of Dreams, to celebrate our anniversary. We came here for the first time six years ago when I covered the Manny Pacquiao-Brandon Rios fight at the Cotai Arena, Venetian Hotel.
The last time we really didn’t have time to take the city in, with the hustle and bustle that comes with a major fight, and so this time around, we intend to immerse ourselves in its culture and history.
Being the foodie that I am, I will probably focus more on Macau’s vibrant street food culture and avoid places with splendid décor and posh interiors.
CONTRAST. Interesting though to look back at that fight and examine both fighter’s career trajectories afterwards. At that time, Pacquiao was coming off two consecutive losses--a controversial split decision verdict to Timothy Bradley and a shocking knockout loss to nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez.
Since Rios was a rugged, strong brawler, there was the notion that Pacquiao’s psyche could have been ruined enough by that one punch knockout loss to make him vulnerable against a banger like Rios. Far from it.
Pacquiao dominated that fight and literally turned the flat-footed, plodding Rios into a human punching bag-eventually winning via unanimous decision. The younger man at 28 at that time, many thought Rios could still recover despite the loss. Perhaps he could get back to the drawing board, take what he could from losing against one of the all-time greats and parlay that into a career-defining victory?
Not even close. Though he finally was able to get that third fight against rival Mike Alvarado, he lost against the top-tier fighters. He was stopped by Timothy Bradley in the ninth round and declared his retirement afterward. He unretired two years later and went 2-2. He had victories against the likes of Aaron Herrera and Ramon Alvarez but was stopped by Danny Garcia and lost via decision to Humberto Soto early this year.
Once again, he announced his second retirement. Let’s hope he keeps his word this time around.
Pacquiao’s career on the other hand, went on the opposite direction. Despite being older than Rios by six years, he is still quite active today and still one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport.
After the Rios fight, he went 7-2, losing only to Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Jeff Horn, the last one being one of the most ridiculous verdicts in recent boxing history.
In his most recent fight, he handily defeated another strong rugged brawler in Keith Thurman to win the WBA super world welterweight title That my dear Last Rounders is another hallmark of greatness--longevity.
Most of the greatest fighters who ever lived--Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali, Bernard Hopkins , even Floyd Mayweather Jr., fought well into their late 30s and early 40s.
LAST ROUNDS. Are on us, as my favorite judge and I celebrate our 19th wedding anniversary. Cheers!