Pacquiao vs. Rios: What's Next for Pac-Man After Easy Victory over Bam Bam?

While Manny Pacquiao wasn’t able to land a knockout punch against Brandon Rios on Saturday night, the Filipino superstar did manage to dominate his opponent from start to finish during their pay-per-view showdown.

It was a convincing victory that left no room for controversy on the scorecard, as Pac-Man (55-5-2) defeated Bam Bam (31-2-1) in stunning fashion. The scores for this unanimous decision were 120-108, 119-109, 118-110 in favor of the favorite. It puts Pacquiao’s career back on track after back-to-back losses.

The 34-year-old champ looked spry in the ring, landing 281 of his 790 punches. By comparison, Rios connected on just 138 of his 502 punches. There’s no doubt that Pac-Man is going to continue fighting, but it remains to be seen who his next opponent will be.

Fighter	Pacquiao	Rios
Landed	281	138
Thrown	790	502
Percentage	36%	27%

Everyone would obviously love to see Pacquiao go up against Floyd Mayweather Jr., but the odds of that happening are simply unlikely. The megafight didn’t happen when the boxers were in their primes, and it isn’t likely to happen now that both are in the twilight of their respective careers.

A more likely next fight for Pac-Man is a rematch against the man who started the only losing streak of his career—Timothy Bradley. Desert Storm “earned” one of the most controversial split-decision victories in boxing history over Pacquiao back in June 2012.

Pac-Man deserves a chance to settle the score and shut the door on any doubt that Bradley is a better fighter.

While Bradley has remained undefeated—earning a unanimous decision over Ruslan Provodnikov and a split decision over Juan Manuel Marquez—he should be willing to risk that spotless record for a shot at silencing his doubters by vanquishing Pacquiao.

The fact that Bradley also has a win over Marquez under his belt should be especially alluring to Pacquiao after Marquez destroyed Pac-Man with a brutal knockout punch this past December. A win over Bradley would help atone—albeit only slightly—for that embarrassing ending as well.

While there are other possible candidates out there—a fifth bout with Marquez, a showdown with Miguel Cotto or a meeting with Provodnikov—Bradley makes the most sense and should be the top target for Pac-Man’s camp when they plan the next fight.