Manny Pacquiao vs. Brandon Rios: Pac-Man's Lack of Knockout Overshadows Win

Manny Pacquiao was dominant Sunday as he bobbed and weaved his way around Brandon Rios' advances en route to a clear-cut decision win.

A win that will forever be overshadowed by Pacquiao's hesitance to push the pedal to the floor.

Sure, Pacquiao ran through Rios. After all, Pacquiao's camp selected the perfect opponent (just as Floyd Mayweather's did with Saul Alvarez), who proved to do nothing but smile as he ate a year's worth of punches in one fight.

The result is perfectly captured by HBO and ESPN:

So yes, it was great win. But Pacquiao has changed.

Pacquiao clearly wanted no part of going for the jugular against a wounded opponent. Instead, he was content to ease off the gas and coast to a victory via decision.

This can be looked at in a few different ways. One can simply brush it off as a veteran being smart. Another can chalk it up to Pacquiao having lost a step with age.

Another can claim Pacquiao is fighting scared. After all, his aggressiveness in looking for a knockout after dominating Juan Manuel Marquez for half of their fourth bout is what got him knocked out.

Regardless, this is a different Pacquiao, as Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated details:

The biggest question leading up to this Pacquiao-Rios fight was whether or not Pac-Man's era of dominance over the sport was through.

It never really was. He lost a highly controversial decision to Timothy Bradley and was then knocked out by a lucky (but perfect) strike by Marquez after dominating the entire fight, just as he did Sunday against Rios.

Perhaps one of the most tantalizing questions in all of sports for years has surrounded a Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather bout. Many even wondered if a win over Rios would equate to the superfight finally happening.

It doesn't.

Maybe we'd see some traction toward the dream fight if the timid Pacquiao had not shown up against Rios. Even then, it's hard to imagine, given their two recent performances, that Pacquiao would stand a chance against Mayweather.

Mannix puts it perfectly once more:

Mayweather is guilty of cherry-picking favorable competition as well, but he wasn't the one who lost two straight fights to need a rebound bout in the first place.

Pacquiao did. The rebound is complete. Pacquiao's back in the minds of those who thought he left. But his performance against Rios simply was not enough. His inability—or unwillingness—to take out Rios and end the fight early overshadows what should have been a triumphant return.

There's no question Pacquiao remains one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the business, but he's a far cry from his pre-2009 form. The world needed to see more from Pacquiao on Sunday, and he chose to not deliver.

Where Pacquiao goes from here is hard to discern.