Against Rios, Pacquiao vows not to repeat lapse in Marquez fight

MANILA, Philippines – The last time Manny Pacquiao aggressively went in for the kill – against archrival Juan Manuel Marquez – he paid the price dearly and got knocked out senseless.

The Filipino icon promised never to make the same mistake again.

Pacquiao, in a recent interview transcript published by boxingscene.com, vowed to take his time and take extra caution against Brandon Rios in their showdown on Nov. 24 in Macau.

The fighting congressman wanted to knock Marquez out so bad in their fight last December that he left himself vulnerable to a counter right straight, which proved to be his demise. Pacquiao ran straight into Marquez’s perfectly timed counter and was knocked out cold at the end of the sixth round, registering the worst loss of his career.

He was beating the hell out of Marquez in that round until the devastating blow came.

Against Rios, Pacquiao said it would be a different story this time.

"I never go looking for the knockout, but you can be sure after getting carless with Juan Manuel Marquez, I won't be setting myself up for getting knocked out,” he said.

Pacquiao stressed that he will be not rushing things against Rios, who is also capable of dishing out powerful blows and usually throws punches in volume.

“With age comes maturity and with maturity comes patience,” he added.

But this doesn’t mean a knockout victory is out of the question for Pacquiao.

“I will not rush in looking to knock Rios out, but rest assured if the opportunity presents itself I will go for it," said the Filipino.

Pacquiao and Rios will clash at the Cotai Arena of the Venetian Macao Resort in Macau, China.