INTERNATIONAL REFEREE MCTAVISH INSISTS PACQUIAO NEEDS TO FOCUS ON THE RIOS FIGHT
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 01 Aug 2013
Internationally respected referee Bruce McTavish who makes his home in Angeles City, Pampanga, insists that ?Fighter of the Decade? and eight division world champion Manny Pacquiao needs to remain totally focused on his showdown with exciting Brandon ?Bam Bam? Rios in Macau on November 24 or he could lose.
McTavish told the Manila Standard that Pacquiao ?has to get focused. He can?t rely on politics or religion. He can only do one thing and that?s boxing, boxing, boxing.?
He warned that ?if Pacquiao is not focused, Rios can win the fight easy but if he?s not, Rios is a danger.?
Although Rios is tailor-made for Pacquiao because he stands in front and throws punches ?but without the focus, Rios has got the weapons to beat him.?
McTavish was full of praise for Milan Melindo who put on a gallant effort in a losing cause against Mexican WBO/WBA flyweight champion Juan Francisco Estrada in Macau last Saturday.
He said Melindo ?is a class act. He?s very nice man. He has got all the potential in the world and is still young enough to come back. He just fought a champion (Estrada) who was on the top of his game and probably had the best fight of his life, the wrong time for Melindo.?
McTavish said ?I wish it was an eight round fight we would have had a world champion. He made a mistake by changing his style after the first six rounds when he tried to mix it up.?
He blasted the three judges for their lopsided scorecards, calling them ?ridiculous.?
Photo: Pacquiao poses for cameramen at China's great wall. Photo by Chris Farina / Top Rank.
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