By Steve Mabbott: Manny Pacquiao’s defeat to Juan Manuel Marquez wiped out Bob Arum’s big plans of putting together a pay per view bout between Pacquiao and former WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios on April 20th next year. With Pacquiao’s 6th round knockout loss to Marquez last Saturday, there just isn’t any way that Pacquiao can move on from that defeat to fight Rios without boxing fans being turned off in the process. So what Arum wants to do is put Rios back in with light welterweight contender Mike Alvarado for a rematch in early 2013.
Lance Pugmire of the LA Times, said on his twitter “Arum said Pacquiao-Marquez outcome likely moves Brandon Rios into a rematch in March against Mike Alvarado.”
Rios and Alvarado had a war last October with Rios emerging as the winner when he hurt Alvarado in the 6th round and then finished him off in the 7th. Rios feels he can knock Alvarado out even quicker the next time they get in the ring with each other, and this will give Rios a good chance to prove it.
Rios wanted the Pacquiao fight, and Arum had told he was going to get it. However, there’s just no way that fight can happen now after Pacquiao was knocked cold by Marquez in the 6th round last Saturday night. And Arum isn’t about to ask Marquez to fight Rios because there’s nothing in it for Marquez. The money for Marquez is in the rematch with Pacquiao and that’s the fight that’s going to happen.
It’s too bad Arum can’t find another opponent for Rios to fight because it’s kind of anticlimactic to see him back in the ring with Alvarado so soon. Alvarado was already shown to be a pretty limited fighter by Breidis Prescott, and Rios further showed it by stopping him. Why put Alvarado and Rios back in with each other. The only reason I can see Arum doing it is because both fighters belong to his Top Rank stable, so it’s an in house fight for him, but can’t he do better than this? I hope he doesn’t Alvarado and Rios in with each four times because it’s going to be really dull seeing Alvarado get knocked out every time.