By Dan Ambrose: Former WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios (33-2-1, 24 KOs) says he wants to fight IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook (35-0, 24 KOs) on August 29th in the UK, according to Dan Rafael. Brook and his promoter Eddie Hearn recently said that Rios was the guy that they’re targeting for their next fight in August.
Rios is in agreement with them in wanting the fight. Now all Rios needs is for his promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank to work out the details to make the fight happen. Arum has said that this is a fight that he wants to make, so unless he has a chance of heart, we should be seeing this fight next for Rios.
“Just spoke to Brandon Rios about possible Special K Brook fight. Said ‘let’s do it.’ Said he has no problem going to UK for Aug. 29 fight,” Rafael said on his Twitter.
Depending on which version of Rios shows up, this could be a toss-up fight or a mismatch in favor of Brook. If Rios looks as good as he did in his 3rd round stoppage win over Mike Alvarado last January, then this could be a real nightmare for Brook and Hearn. That wasn’t just a fluke performance from Rios. He looked better in that fight then he ever has before. His whole game was changed from how he used to fight in the past. Instead of plodding in slowly like he’s always done, Rios attacked with speed and power. He looked totally different.
Rios’ conditioning was superb for that fight, even better than in his fight against Manny Pacquiao in 2013. If Rios had fought Pacquiao with the same style and conditioning as he did in his fight against Alvarado this year, it would have been a really grueling fight for Pacquiao. I’m not saying Pacquiao would have lost, but I think it would have been as tough a fight for him than many of his bouts against Juan Manuel Marquez. With the way that Rios looked against Alvarado in January, Pacquiao would have taken considerable punishment, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he were knocked out.
If Rios proves to be too strong for Brook, I think we could see Brook choose to tie him up repeatedly to try and shut down his offense. This is what Brook did against Shawn Porter to stop him from fighting in close. I’m not sure if it’ll work on Rios though because he’s able to fight on the outside a lot better than Porter. Rios has a good jab, and he’s very effective on the outside. Clinching might not work for Brook. He might actually have to beat Rios in a toe-to-toe battle to get the win. If Rios comes in shape and with the same kind of intensity as he did against Alvarado in their third fight, this could be a toss-up between Rios and Brook.
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