By Dan Ambrose: Former WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios (31-2-1, 23 KO’s) thinks the world wants to see him fight WBO light welterweight champion Ruslan Provodnikov (23-2, 16 KO’s) next, and he’s hoping that his promoters at Top Rank can set that fight up for him next. With Juan Manuel Marquez saying no to Provodnikov, there’s a reasonable chance that Rios could get a fight against him next in May, which is when Rios says that he’s been told by Top Rank he’ll be fighting next.
“I want it [Provodnikov fight] to happen,” Rios said to Hustleboss. “I want that fight. Everybody wants that fight. That would be a good fight for everybody around the world. Not only that, but everybody would tune into that fight…He comes to fight. That’s what I like. We’d both be in the middle of the ring fighting it out.”
For once, I actually agree that fans wouldn’t mind seeing a Rios-Provodnikov fight, but I don’t think it’s the kind of fight where people would drop plans for something else just to tune in and see it. If the fights in May, it likely will be on regular HBO. But knowing how Bob Arum likes to have a lot of pay-per-view fights, he’ll likely stick this fight on an undercard of one of his cards and then ask boxing fans to pay to see it.
I wouldn’t mind seeing Provodnikov-Rios, but I wouldn’t want to pay anything to see it. How could you pay to see that? Rios has lost his last two fights, and he really he’s lost 3 out of his last 4 fights, because he was beaten by Richard Abril in their fight in 2012. Rios got the win by a 12 round decision, but he was beaten to the point where he deserved to win just 2 rounds. It was that one-sided of a fight.
The World Boxing Organization will have to sanction a fight between Rios and Provodnikov, because Rios isn’t ranked in the top 15 in the 140 lb division, and they might take issue with him getting a title shot against Provodnikov rather than a top 15 contender like Lucas Matthysse, who is currently ranked #2 by the WBO.
Rios looked just like a punching bag in his last fight in losing a 12 round unanimous decision against Manny Pacquiao last November. I don’t know how Rios could have the nerve to ask for a fight against Provodnikov after a fight like that. Rios should be starting from the ground, and working his way back up the food chain before being given another title shot. It’s not really fair for him to get a title fight after losing to Pacquiao and Mike Alvarado in his last two fights.
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