It’s safe to say that Rios hasn’t fought well since his 7th round knockout win over Alvarado nearly three years ago in October of 2012. It’s unclear if the punishment that Rios took in the first fight deteriorated his physical skills or if he’s simply faced better opposition since the first fight. Whatever the case, Rios is no longer shining like he once did, and there’s major questions about how much he had left in the tank.
Former WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios is extremely skeptical that a fight between the two biggest stars in boxing Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao will take place in 2015. Rios says he’ll believe it when he sees the two fighters in the ring.
Rios says he’s suspicious of Mayweather’s motives for suddenly saying he’s interested in the Pacquiao fight. Rios thinks that one of the reason why Mayweather is mentioning a fight against Pacquiao right now is perhaps an effort for Mayweather to boost his name value. Rios thinks Mayweather is afraid that his name is dying and that by mentioning Pacquiao, he could be raising his name.
Former WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios (32-2-1, 23 KOs) won’t be going back and clearing up the huge controversy surrounding his 9th round disqualification win over Diego Chaves from earlier this month. Instead, Rios is being matched up by his promoters at Top Rank against former WBO light welterweight champion Ruslan Provodnikov (23-3, 16 KOs) this November, according to Boxingsphere. The negotiations are underway right now between the two fighter’s management.
Rios was on his way to losing to Diego Chaves when referee Vic Drakulitch stepped in and stopped the fight in the 9th round following a head-lock that Chaves had put on Rios. It was later learned that Drakulich had disqualified Chaves for throwing an elbow at some point in the 9th round. It didn’t take place at the time of the stoppage because Chaves didn’t throw an elbow.
IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook’s promoter Eddie Hearn is looking for a slugger to help accentuate Brook’s fighting style and make him look good in his first defense of his title in his next fight on December 6th.
Hearn says he likes the idea of Brook fighting former WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios next, because he’s a fighter that is well known to American fans and someone that will make it an interesting fight.
It seems no one at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, NV was happy with the way the fight between Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios and Diego Gabriel Chaves ended. It was a close, rugged battle that fans undoubtedly were enjoying. They certainly didn’t want it to end so abruptly at the hands of referee Vic Drakulich. Diego clearly didn’t want it to end with him on the losing end. He felt he was winning the fight, and that it was snatched away from him. Even Rios expressed dissatisfaction with the way things ended, but he felt Diego deserved to be penalized.
The fight was a war. Most people thought that it would evolve into a war, but it wasn’t expected to start that way. Diego controlled that surprise. He came out throwing power jabs and hard overhand rights. Would he run out of steam? Rios seemed to be caught off guard initially, but by the second round he already had Diego backing up. He got in close and started throwing punishing shots to the body. Diego was hit with his first penalty point in the third round, apparently for excessive holding.
Brandon Rios (32-2-1, 23 Kos) should be on his knees tonight thanking referee Vick Drakulich for saving his career in needlessly disqualifying visiting fighter Diego Chaves (23-2, 19 KOs) in the 9th round at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Drakulich had been overactive in taking points off from the 3rd round when he took a point off from Chaves for clinching. I still can’t understand why Drakulich disqualified Chaves instead of Rios, who really was the one that was fouling repeatedly by head-butting during every clinch, hitting low and throwing rabbit punches.
From my perspective, it just looked like Chaves was robbed tonight. He came in as the B-side and he was beating the house fighter and getting fouled like mad. Instead of the referee addressing the fouling that Rios was doing, he disqualified the victim of the fouling in giving the hook to Chaves. I can’t remember ever seeing a visiting fighter get shafted as badly as Chaves did tonight.
Rios claims that he has returned back to earth after his head was stuck in the clouds of success. Alex Ariza is gone from his camp, now he and his world renowned trainer Robert Garcia are going back to the basics. Strength and condition coach or not, Rios better have been on his best behavior to prepare for a hungry and dangerous fighter like Chaves.
Diego Chaves has a snappy jab and loves to throw chopping hooks to the body and head. He favors his left hand for lead hooks and has a decent overhand right to go with it.
The thought amongst fans and media who are picking Chaves are banking on his movement. I question Diego’s capability to outbox Rios only because he hasn’t shown that trait at a high level. He pressed the action for the most part in a loss to Keith Thurman, and in a close victory over Omar Weis. When he was pushed back in both of those fights, he looked very uncomfortable making him vulnerable to a hunter like Rios.
According to a recent report by WNB.com, Team Provodnikov is interested in getting Ruslan and Brandon in the ring.
This would no doubt be an attractive action packed match, as both Rios and Provodnikov are an explosive pair. Provodnikov’s close call loss to Timothy Bradley didn’t seem to affect his state of mind, as he still believes that the victory belongs to him. Beating a very tough opponent in Mike Alvarado in October of last year, adds that much more confidence for Ruslan in his proposed fight against Rios, as it was Alvardo himself that delivered Rios a loss in March of 2013.
Former WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios (31-2-1, 23 KO’s) is expected back in the ring next May against possibly WBO light welterweight champion Ruslan Provodnikov. Rios is waiting to find out which fighter Manny Pacquiao will take on for his April 12th fight in Las Vegas, Nevada. If Pacquiao selected Tim Bradley, then Rios will be looking to fight Provodikov for his World Boxing Organization 140 lb. title. If Pacquaio selects Provodnikov to fight, then Rios could be fighting Tim Brady for his WBO welterweight title.
The criticism that would come from Rios fighting for a world title against Provodnikov or Bradley stems from the fact that Rios has lost his last two fights and isn’t ranked in the top 15 at either 140 or 147. For Rios to get a title shot off of consecutive defeats and with him being a 2nd tier fighter, it would definitely run a lot of people the wrong way. However, you can bet that the WBO will come to the rescue or Rios once talk begins for him to fight Bradley or Provodnikov.
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum has said that WBO light welterweight champion Ruslan Provodnikov (23-2, 16 KO’s) is one of the names that is a possibility to fight Manny Pacquiao on April 12th, along with Juan Manuel Marquez and Tim Bradley. But it’s unknown how serious Arum is about potentially having a puncher like Provodnikov face his money fighter Pacquiao.But in the meantime, Provodnikov has accepted a challenge from one of Arum’s fighters Brandon Rios (31-2-1, 23 KO’s to fight him, presumably in a bout that could happen next on the undercard of Pacquiao’s April 12th card in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Provodnikov said on his twitter “Brandon Rios, I agree to make fight. I’m ready.”