Rios vs. Pacquiao in 2013
Philippines' Manny Pacquiao throws a punch at Brandon Rios (L) of the U.S. during their World Boxing Organisation (WBO) International 12-round welterweight boxing title fight at the Venetian Macao hotel in Macau November 24, 2013. Pacquiao scored a decisive, unanimous decision victory against American Brandon Rios on Sunday to end a two-fight losing streak and win the vacant WBO International welterweight title. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

Two former opponents of Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao in Zab Judah and Brandon Rios, respectively, have vouched for the world-class skills of both fighters roughly a month before their super fight on May 2, 2015 at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada in the United States.

With training camp fully underway for both sides, Judah, who is one of Mayweather Jr.’s sparring partners claim that the undefeated American is “ten times better” than the time when they met on top of the squared ring nine years ago while Rios describes Pacquiao as “animal” during their bout two years ago.

“Floyd is looking tremendous, great hand speed, great power, great everything. Come May 2nd baby, ‘Money May’ gonna turn it up.” Judah said to Fight Hype. “He’s not the same guy, he’s ten times better. He’s very smart, he almost gets inside your body and controls you. He knows what he’s doing. We’re starting to call him the scientist.”

Meanwhile, in a separate interview, Rios relived his fight against Pacquiao and was all praises for the latter. Rios battled Pacquiao on Nov. 24, 2013 and got dominated in 12 rounds on the way to a unanimous decision victory, 119-109, 120-108 and 118-110 for the Filipino pugilist who is the only eight-division champion in the history of boxing.

“Well when I fought Manny, that [expletive] was fast. He was so fast he makes super-fast people look not-fast.” Rios shared to ESNews. “And he was just awkward bro. I had some sparring guys, using lefties I thought I was doing good. I was doing great with them; then I got in the ring with Manny Pacquiao it was just a different story man. Different animal. He throws at different angles.”

Judah, who is an aggressive slugger and a southpaw like Pacquiao, had a relatively more successful stint against Mayweather Jr. on April 8, 2006 when he lost via unanimous decision but won a few rounds off the undefeated American. The judges’ scorecards showed 119-109, 116-112 and 117-111 thanks to a good effort by Judah in the early rounds of the fight.

After the loss to Pacquiao, the 28-year-old Rios (33-2-1, 24 knockouts) has bounced back with two victories including a dominating performance against Mike Alvarado last January. The 37-year-old Judah (42-9-0, 29 KOs) is coming off disappointing back-to-back losses to Danny Garcia and Paul Malignaggi in his last two fights.

While no additional hype is needed for the Mayweather (47-0-0, 26 KOs) vs. Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 KOs) fight in May, Rios’ and Judah’s words should add fuel to the fire that the highly-anticipated boxing event will meet expectations of fight fans and enthusiasts who are calling the super fight as the “Fight of the Century”.

To contact author of this article, email j.quizon@IBTimes.com.au.

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