MANILA, Philippines -- He may have put on a brave face after his lopsided defeat to Manny Pacquiao, but boxer Brandon "Bam Bam" Rios eventually broke into tears over his wasted effort against the Filipino superstar.
The Mexican-American brawler tried to hold back his tears while recalling the months of training he underwent to prepare for the biggest fight of his career.
"Oh man it just hurts... because I trained my ass off. Trained for five months," Rios said in an interview with Top Rank's Crystina Poncher.
"It hurt me bad because I worked my ass off so hard, five months in the gym, training, training, training. I think it's one of my best camp ever."
Rios, however, said he was surprised by Pacquiao's quickness and evasiveness during the bout that saw most of his punches hitting the air.
He has sparred with quick boxers before, but none of them prepared him for a fleet-footed Pacquiao.
In the end, Pacquiao taught him a boxing lesson by coming out unscathed against Rios.
"It happened, it went the other way," said Rios.
What makes it more painful for the 27-year-old was that he felt he let his team, including boxing coach Robert Garcia and conditioning trainer Alex Ariza, down.
"It hurts really bad. It felt like I let my team down because I tried and we worked so hard and we were so confident... it really hurts," said Rios.
Rios then consoled himself with the fact that Pacquiao failed to knock him out, despite absorbing most of the power punches the Filipino threw at him.
He said Mike Alvarado may have hurt him, but not Pacquiao.
"Honestly, I never felt his power that much. I think what killed me is his speed and awkwardness. He's very awkward and throws punches from all angles," said Rios.
He also boasted that he has proved coach Freddie Roach wrong.
"Freddie Roach, I'm nobody's journeyman fighter. He (Pacquiao) wasn't able to stop me four rounds, six rounds. I was coming to fight, I tried to win, bring my heart out and he never hurt me."