Brandon Rios interested in fighting Victor Ortiz, thinks he would beat him

By Boxing News - 08/29/2011 - Comments

Image: Brandon Rios interested in fighting Victor Ortiz, thinks he would beat himBy Eric Thomas: Undefeated WBA World lightweight champion Brandon Rios (28-0-1, 21 KO’s) says he’s interested in fighting WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz (29-2-2, 22 KO’s) without a catchweight. Rios, speaking with the koncretejungle, said he would fight Ortiz at the full welterweight limit of 147 rather than making him melt down to 135 to take the fight at his weight class or fighting at a catchweight.

“I think I would beat him,” Rios said. Rios is tentatively scheduled to be facing contender Kevin Mitchell (32-1, 24 KO’s) on November 12th at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada. That could change with either the date being pushed back to December and another opponent depending on if Mitchell agrees to take the fight or not.

Rios and Ortiz have had words in the past, and Rios would like to clear things up by getting in the ring to prove who the better fighter is. It would be a huge fight, but unfortunately making the fight might prove to be all but impossible. Rios is promoted by Bob Arum of Top Rank and is being groomed to be a future cash cow.

It’s hard to imagine that Arum will want to put his future gravy train fighter against a bigger Golden Boy Promotions fighter like Ortiz. Just Ortiz being with Golden Boy is obstacle enough to make this fight difficult to arrange. But with Ortiz having the bigger frame, the longer reach, heavier, stronger, and faster, it would be a long shot to see this fight getting made. Rios has a busy style like Marcos Maidana, a fighter that took a younger Ortiz out two years ago in a 6th round TKO.

However, Maidana was bigger than Rios and stronger. He was able to take Ortiz’s huge shots long enough to get to him in the 5th and 6th rounds with his own power punches. I don’t think Ortiz would be bothered by Rios’ power, but I can see Rios having problems taking Ortiz’s shots over time. Rios is a very good lightweight, but moving up two divisions to face a guy like Ortiz would be a step too far for him.

Rios doubts whether Ortiz will beat Mayweather, saying “I don’t think he’s ready for Mayweather. But he could prove me wrong. He proved me wrong with [Andre] Berto. It was pretty crazy. You never know. He could prove the world wrong.”



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