"I think Pacquiao, this time, it won't even be close. I feel that Pacquiao stops him. The other fights were very close, but this time, I think Pacquiao drops him a couple of times and then stops him in the later rounds...We want to get a piece of him before his career is over. It'll be a huge fight for Brandon. He's got nothing to lose in that fight. A year from now, he's going to be stronger and Manny's already going to have two more fights. Things can change from one fight to another, so that would be great for us to be able to get a shot at that. I think Brandon gives Manny a better fight than what Marquez is going to be able to do. Marquez is already 37, you know, he's already up there. I think Timothy Bradley, it's going to be interesting to watch that fight, but I think it will make more sense; the fans want to see more of a Brandon Rios against a Manny Pacquiao," stated world-class trainer Robert Garcia, who shared his thoughts on the upcoming November 12 rubbermatch between pound-for-pound champion Manny Pacquiao and lightweight king Juan Manuel Marquez. You don't want to miss what he had to say about an eventual move up in weight for WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios and a potential future clash with Pacquiao. Check it out!
BT: Like you said before, I'm sure it's a lot eaier for you to train two fighters when they're at the same gym, but is it difficult for you to game plan two fights with guys who are headlining on the same card?
RG: Yeah, you know, I've been in that situation before, but this is obviously two big fights. I've had smaller fights on the same card, but that's nothing compared to main event fighters fighting big fights in Margarito in Brandon. So yeah, it is difficult. When I'm in that situation, for a half an hour before Brandon trains, I'll be in the gym watching videos of his opponent and then after training him, I'll do the same when Maragarito is about to come in just to change my mentality and change everything around. But we should be fine.
BT: I don't think fans realize the wide variety of styles you actually train. Some trainers will train all of their fighters to fight a certain way, but you pretty much run the gambit as far as styles are concerned. What is it that makes you able to go from an Antonio Margarito, who's got a come-right-at-you type of style, to a Nonito Donaire, one of the most skilled pound-for-pound fighters out there?
RG: I think me being able to do this is because I've done it before. I think the way I used to fight, there was a few fights where I tried to brawl; I've tried everything. I just gotta see which style my fighters are. If we talk about some of the trainers you're mentioning, I can mention one, you know, that most of his fighters fight the same and that's Nacho Beristain. Most of his fighters fight the same and they're great fighters, believe me. Everybody knows, you know, from Finito Lopez to the Marquez brothers, you know, they all have the same style and they've all been great champions, but they do all have the same styles. How can I teach Brandon to be a boxer and to counter punch and to fight the way Nonito fights or the way Mikey fights? It's impossible. We gotta train Brandon to be a brawler, go in and try to work on his head movement, keeping up his guard like the way he does; we gotta work on that. You know, little things we got to see in his opponent or whoever he's fighting, little mistakes that he makes, okay, we gotta practice on taking advantage of that. Same with Margarito, but I can't make them counter punchers. I can't make them those type of fighters. And if we got Nonito or Mikey, maybe they do have the power to knock anybody out, but that don't mean I'ma make them brawlers. That don't mean I'ma make them stand in the middle of the ring and exchange punches with their opponent. You know, they gotta fight their way, and they also do that a lot on their own. They're very smart, Nonito and Mikey, they're very smart. They know what they're doing inside the ring. They hear and follow instructions, but they're also so smart, they know how to make a change on their own if they have to.
BT: Speaking of Beristain, give me your thoughts on Pacquiao vs. Marquez. Does Marquez have a shot or is the size difference just going to be too much?
RG: Well, he does have a shot. Everybody has a shot every time they step into the ring, but I just think the size difference, you know, I think Pacquiao, this time, it won't even be close. I feel that Pacquiao stops him. The other fights were very close, but this time, I think Pacquiao drops him a couple of times and then stops him in the later rounds.
BT: What about Brandon? I know there's been some whispers about Brandon maybe being a future opponent for Pacquiao. He's going to have any problems moving up in weight?
RG: Well, Brandon's 5'9", you know? He's tall and very strong at lightweight. I think this might be our last fight at lightweight. I don't know, it depends on what Top Rank can bring for him and Cameron Dunkin can work out for him, but he's very big and very strong, so we'll be at 140 pretty soon, and I think at 140, there's so many big fights out there that we could do. I feel that Brandon has the heart, has the power to dominate the 140-pound division. That puts him in a spot to be able to challenge someone like Pacquiao. Brandon is taller than Pacquiao. I'm not saying he's bigger, but he is taller and when we bring him into 140, you know, we'll bring in some muscle. We'll get him into that division and then he'll be big; he'll be a big jr. welterweight also, so if that's something that Arum has in mind, which he already mentioned, hey, we're all up for it. I think Brandon has got the style. He won't quit, he keeps coming, he takes a good punch and he hits very hard, so it's a style that could give Manny some trouble. You know, I read what people comment and they say that's just like another Margarito fight, so Pacquiao will do the same thing. Well yeah, they might be similar styles, but the difference is Brandon is 10 years younger than Margarito, and hungrier. He just wants to do something in this business that will make a big difference. He is 10 years younger, so that is a big difference there. Hopefully it happens. We want to get a piece of him before his career is over. It'll be a huge fight for Brandon. He's got nothing to lose in that fight. A year from now, he's going to be stronger and Manny's already going to have two more fights. Things can change from one fight to another, so that would be great for us to be able to get a shot at that. I think Brandon gives Manny a better fight than what Marquez is going to be able to do. Marquez is already 37, you know, he's already up there. I think Timothy Bradley, it's going to be interesting to watch that fight, but I think it will make more sense; the fans want to see more of a Brandon Rios against a Manny Pacquiao than a Brandon Rios against a Timothy Bradley. That's just me thinking as a fan.
BE SURE TO CHECK OUT PART 1 OF THIS INTERVIEW WITH WORLD-CLASS TRAINER ROBERT GARCIA
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