By Chris Williams: If Top Rank promoter Bob Arum wants to get a big fight for his struggling with weight fighter former WBA World lightweight champion Brandon Rios (30-0, 22 KO’s) he should look at Adrien Broner (24-0, 20 KO’s), who said he’s interested in fighting Rios next at a catchweight. Presumably the fight would be at 138 lbs, since Rios now fights at 140 and Broner is moving up to the lightweight division at 135.
Broner destroyed Vincente Escobedo (26-4, 15 KO’s) by an easy 5th round TKO last Saturday night in Cincinnati, Ohio. When interviewed after the fight, Broner said “Now I’m going to move up and get a lightweight title. [Antonio] Demarco, you might be next. [Juan Manuel] Marquez, you can get it next. Brandon Rios, we can meet at a catchweight. It really don’t matter.”
I like the idea of Broner facing Rios next, although I don’t think Arum would agree to that fight. He’s got a popular fighter in Rios, and if he puts him in with Broner he’ll likely get whipped badly and then lose value. Rios already was pretty badly exposed in his last fight, a 12 round split decision over Richard Abril last April. Few boxing fans agreed with that decision and most of them saw Rios getting beaten by a lopsided decision in that fight.
Rios can no longer make the 135 pound weight limit, having failed in his last two fights. It’s doubtful that Arum is going to be able to do much with Rios at 140, because he lacks size and speed for that weight class. Arum might as well put him in with Broner in a cash out fight. Arum can then cut his losses and let Rios go after that rather than watch him struggle at 140. Rios’s main success at 135 seemed to come from being a lot heavier than his opponents. Rios was like the Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. of the lightweight division. He got away with it for a long time, but it eventually caught up with him to where he could no longer make the weight.
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