Manny Pacquiao confident of victory over Brandon Rios in Macau bout in November
Filipino star says he possibly has a couple of years left before he retires, but is keen to leave legacy starting with Rios bout in Macau
Philippines superstar Manny Pacquiao has revealed he has "probably two and a half years" left before he retires from the ring, but he will make the most of his twilight years beginning with victory against American Brandon Rios in November in Macau.
Pacquiao will meet Rios in the "Clash of Cotai" on November 24, the 34-year-old's first fight since his devastating knockout defeat by Mexico's Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas in December. That came hard on the heels of his loss to American Timothy Bradley last June, which ended in controversy after most observers thought the Filipino had won on points, only for the fight to be given to Bradley.
"I need to prove that I can still fight. The last two fights, I lost. I need to recover from that.
"This is a big opportunity in Macau and it's going to be a very good fight because Rios likes to fight toe to toe. Of course, we always have to pray to God that nobody gets hurt," said Pacquiao (54-5-2, 38 KOs), who arrived in Macau on Thursday.
"This is a good opportunity for boxers like us to fight in Macau. It's a new market. We want to market boxing in China. I don't know whether I will finish my career in Macau, it's up to my promoter. But I'm happy to be fighting in Macau because this city is very close to the Philippines and there's no jet lag," he said.
Pacquiao will focus on his first fight outside Mexico, the Philippines and the US in a non-title welterweight (147 pounds) contest over 12 rounds at the Venetian CotaiArena.