Pacquiao vs. Rios: Pac-Man Proved That He Is Still Dominant by Beating Bam Bam

Manny "Pac-Man" Pacquiao silenced his critics and proved that he is still dominant by coming away with a convincing win over Brandon "Bam Bam" Rios on Saturday.

ESPN.com's Dan Rafael tweeted the scores of the unanimous decision:

This bout may have been the one of the most important fights of Pac-Man's (55-5-2) career. Luckily, he came out on top in dominant fashion.

Entering this bout, the 34-year-old had lost back-to-back fights. It was the first time in his career, which started back in 1995, that he had lost consecutive fights. He had not been knocked out since the early years of his career, so there was concern after he was knocked out against Juan Manuel Marquez last December.

Had he lost to Rios (31-2-1), Pacquiao may have considered retiring. He came out ready to go from the start to establish his dominance over his opponent. 

It had been over 11 months since Pac-Man had stepped in the ring. He had plenty of time to return to his old form and rely on speed and footwork.

At one point in the first round, Bam Bam slipped. That was a sign of things to come as he couldn't keep up with Pac-Man.

Pacquiao landed at least 35 percent of his punches in six of the first seven rounds, whereas Rios failed to reach that mark in any of those rounds.

Bam Bam certainly wore down throughout the fight—something Pac-Man's speed can do to a boxer. The 27-year-old landed at least 42 percent of his power punches in each of the first six rounds but failed to top 42 percent in five of the final six rounds.

Just check out how dominant Pac-Man was by looking at the stats:

	Total Punches	Jab	Power Punches
Pacquiao	281/790 (36%)	58/322 (18%)	223/468 (48%)
Rios	138/502 (27%)	25/239 (10%)	113/263 (43%)

The Filipino star won by using speed. He was able to throw punches from all different angles, and his quickness helped catch Rios by surprise. His dominance in the ring was obvious from the start.

He certainly wanted to send a message to the world:

Message received.

Fans will now wonder if Pacquiao can work his way to a fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr., but everyone should respect what he did in the ring over the weekend rather than look ahead.

Pacquaio dominated the fight in just about every aspect, and he left no doubt that he can still be an elite boxer.

*All stats are via CompuBox via BoxingScene.com