He was dominating Marquez until that devastating KO.
RE: Pacquiao vs Rios and Pacquaio vs Marquez
I notice a difference between Pacquiao’s fight this time against Brandon Rios vis a vis his fight against Marquez.
The last time he fought Marquez, Pacquiao over-committed to his offense, got cocky, went for the kill and walked into a surprising counter right hand from Marquez (a great counter puncher) and spent a few minutes down in the ring.
But this time, in the 12th round against Rios, when the accumulation of punches appeared to finally be too much, when Rios’ attempts to pull victory out of the hat resulted in him walking into Pacquiao’s ax and he sagged into a corner, Pacquiao briefly appeared to be thinking about moving in for the kill before deciding that the risk wasn’t worth it and backing away ( I think he remembered the previous fight ).
So, here’s what I think — Pacquaio is 35 years old, not as fast as he used to be 10 years ago. What happened against Marquez means that, with reflexes ever-so-slightly slowing with age, and wear and tear (See for instance, what’s happening in Tennis to the great Roger Federer), Pacquiao will fight in a marginally more restrained style in the future, seeking to inflict damage on his opponent while minimizing the risk of incoming artillery.
Whether he can fight Mayweather in a more “smart” style instead of brawling remains to be seen ( that is of course, if Mayweather even agrees to fight Pacquaio as he has been dodging him for the longest time ).