Tension is in the air as the long awaited fight between Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao and Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios draws near. On November 23rd, former IBO champion Manny Paquiao will look to snap his two fight losing streak and re-establish his spot in the pound for pound list as he battles Brandon Rios in Macau, China.

The big question coming into this bout is, how will Pacquiao return from his knock out defeat to Juan Manuel Marquez? Aside from that, doubt also lingers about Manny’s state of mind due to the current crisis in The Philippines, many wonder just how focused he will be for this match, and whether this could give Rios an opportunity to pull off a huge upset win. In the build up to the fight, many guests of “On The Ropes” boxing radio have given their views on the big fight and who they believe will emerge victorious. Check out these fight predictions given by some of the biggest names in boxing.

Jeff Mayweather:

No one really knows if Pacquiao’s gonna be able to come back. Rios is a very, very tough fight for him, Rios is a tough fight for anyone. That’s gonna be a fight where neither guy has great defense. Pacquiao has tremendous hand speed, he has a great advantage in that department, but they are both gonna be getting hit, so I don’t know, but it’s a good comeback fight for Pacquaio I think.

Andre Ward:

I think it’s going to be a tremendous battle for however long it lasts, and I don’t think it’s going to go the distance, but I couldn’t tell you who is going to win this fight, but this is a 50/50 fight.

Floyd Mayweather Sr:

I can see Rios probably beating him even though I ain’t ever seen Rios, but I can see Rios beating him from the standpoint of keeping pressure on him, he might be hitting Rios but he probably won’t knock Rios out, unless he’s like the Pacquiao he was of old.

Timothy Bradley:

There is always risk when you are in there with a big puncher, absolutely, but like I always tell everybody, speed kills, speed kills in every sport, it does not matter what sport it is. If you are faster than a guy, then you should be able to beat him. I just feel that Pacquiao is super fast, super strong, punches well with either hand.

I think Rios is gritty, he’ll withstand however much he possibly can to go in there and get the win, and I think it’s a great fight, but I still got to favor Pacquiao because I honestly think he’s tailor made for him. I just feel Pacquiao does well when guys come at him and let their hands go.

Rios is not a real big defensive guy at all. He keeps his hands high, but Pacquiao is the kind of fighter that punches through guards. You keep your guard up, he punches through guards and I feel that he’s going to punch through Rios’ guard and pick him to pieces. That’s just what I feel. I don’t know if he’ll knock him out, but there’s a possibly that he can, he can bust him up and possibly get him out of there.

Mike Tyson:

Well, Pacquiao is back, you know why he’s back? Because he fights Brandon Rios and he sells the place out, he is back. When you’re not back is when you’re finished and nobody wants to see your face no more, they don’t want to see you in an arena sitting down, that‘s when you’re really finished. He’s not finished, he’s never really been finished. He’s a mega star of boxing and one defeat like that is not gonna finish him. He can get knocked out two more times and not be finished, he’s not that kind of fighter. He’s the kind of fighter people will always want to see because he gives people hope, he gives nations hope so they will always believe in guys like that, those guys are never really finished.

Roy Jones Jr:

If Pacquiao drops him, that won’t surprise me, but if Pacquiao drops him and doesn’t finish him then Pacquiao is gonna have his hands full…….The fight wont go the distance because if he don’t finish Brandon, then Brandon will finish him.

Naazim Richardson:

Brandon Rios and Pacquiao like I said, what can Pacquiao do for us that’s gonna surpass what he’s done for us? The only thing Pacquiao could do for us is go out there and get knocked out the same way he got knocked out but faster. If he knocks Brandon out are we gonna say he was better than when he knocked Cotto out? It wont be. Maybe he can salvage something and create enough noise.

Let’s say Pacquiao comes in and says, “I’m rejuvenated” and he goes in there and he knocks Brandon out, which is a tough task. Now lets say after Brandon he knocks out Tim Bradley, lets say he knocks out the Russian that Bradley fought. Okay has he made a name for himself? Would we want to see him against Mayweather now? There is always gonna be an asterisk next to it throughout history. There is always gonna be a black line over that fight.

I never thought he beat Marquez, I thought he lost every Marquez fight he ever fought. One was defining but I thought he lost the other ones too. I just didn’t think he was a good match-up with Marquez, I thought Marquez was a better fighter. If Pacquiao has anything left I can see him stealing a decision from Rios.

Jenna J:

I feel that the Pacquiao camp selected the right opponent at the right time for his comeback. Brandon is as tough as they come and will never take a backward step no matter who he is fighting, but with this fight he is in with someone that has speed, defense, and overall is a technically superior fighter. Manny Pacquiao will use his southpaw style and money punch left hand to pick Brandon Rios apart. I think Rios can take whatever is thrown at him, and if the referee or corner does not step in, I can see him making the distance, but only to lose a wide unanimous decision. Official prediction Pacquiao UD.

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Stay tuned after the fight for a special live post fight edition of “On The Ropes”. Fans can call in and discuss the Pacquiao-Rios fight and also what is next for both men. Link for the show is below.

http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.jsp?masterId=93463&cmd=tc