By Allan Fox: Brandon Rios (31-2-1, 23 KO’s) will be trying to turn his career around against #10 WBA welterweight contender Diego Chaves (23-1, 19 KO’s) in two months on August 2nd at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, Nevada. Rios, 28, has been sitting out of action since he was thrashed by Manny Pacquiao last November in losing 12 round unanimous decision in Macao, China.

Rios was hoping he’d be competitive with Pacquiao, but he didn’t have the hand speed and he did a poor job of timing him the way that Juan Manuel Marquez has always done in his previous fights with him.

Rios needs a win here to get into the thick of things in the welterweight division. He’s moved up from 140 to 147 now officially, and he needs 2-3 good wins for him to get in position for a world title shot.

It’s not likely that Rios will ever get a crack at Pacquiao again, but if he can put some wins together, he’ll be able to get a shot against IBF champ Shawn Porter. That’s probably Rios’ best bet to get a world title fight, because he won’t get one against Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Chaves, a fighter from Argentina, could prove to be a difficult opponent for Rios because he can punch pretty good and he’s got similar size as Rios. Chaves was knocked out in the 10th round by Keith Thurman last year in July, but he gave Thurman some problems in the bout in the first part of the fight.

Thurman was able to figure Chaves out, avoid his shots and eventually stop him. Chaves came back from that loss to defeat Juan Alberto Godoy in his last fight in February of this year in stopping him in the 2nd round.

Rios needs a victory in this fight because he cannot get beat again if he wants to be able to get some more meaningful fights in the near future.