Despite the fact that Manny Pacquiao is in the middle of training for his upcoming fight with Brandon Rios, set for November 23rd in Macau, China, Pacquiao is reigniting talk of taking on Floyd Mayweather, after the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world called the Filipino sensation a "has-been."
"That's good [he thinks that], if he wants to fight me, that's good,"said Pacquiao to Marcos Villegas of YouTube.com's The Boxing Channel. "Why doesn't he want to fight me if that's his thinking? Let's get it on and fight in the ring."
Pacquiao, loser of his last two fights, still wants to prove his name belongs in the best "pound for pound" rankings alongside Mayweather and Andre Ward, but he must get past Rios - a scrappy warrior who is coming off a tough lose to Mike Alvarado, in a rematch from their 2012 "Fight of The Year" bout that saw Rios win the first encounter.
Rios took the defeat hard, thinking that the blemish on his 31-1 overall record would prevent him from signing for huge prizefights in the future.
"I thought, 'I have to start all over again,'" said Rios. "I didn't think I was going to be right there on top again. I was really disappointed."
Instead, Rios landed into his biggest payday, to date, off the success of his two thrilling bouts with Alvarado; an opportunity that he is not taking for granted.
"Brandon was very happy because not only is that a big fight, but he's going to be able to bring a lot for his family," said Rios' trainer, former IBF super featherweight champion Robert Garcia. "He's got kids, he's got a wife, so it's going to help him out."
For "Pacman", his fight with Rios is a chance to rebound after two tough losses - a controversial decision against Timothy Bradley and a devastating knock out at the hands of Juan Manuel Marquez that was replayed all over SportsCenter and the object of ridicule on social media.
"One of the things I'm trying to show is that you don't quit because something bad happened," said Pacquiao. "I've been knocked out before. It was a long time ago. I came back and I won a lot of fights. And now - Pow! - it happened again. The important thing to learn here is that there is nothing wrong with losing. You get up and you fight."
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