Provodnikov waiting on Chaves-Rios winner

rios66(Photo credit: Ed Mulholland/HBO) By Chris Williams: The winner of tonight’s fight between Diego Chaves (23-1, 19 KOs) and Brandon Rios (31-2-1, 23 KOs) won’t be getting a world title shot, of course, but they could face former WBO light welterweight world champion Ruslan Provodnikov (23-3, 16 KOs). Top Rank is interested in matching Provodnikov against the winner of the Chaves-Rios fight.

It’s unclear whether the winner of that fight would get another crack at Manny Pacquiao, but I wouldn’t be surprised. There’s not much else for Bob Arum to match Pacquiao up against, so we could see Rios get a second shot at him if he runs the table and beats both Chaves and Provodnikov.

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Diego Chaves plans on brawling with Rios in the center of the ring tonight

chavez88(Photo credit: Ed Mulholland/HBO) By Dan Ambrose: #10 IBF Diego Chaves (23-1, 19 KOs) plans on finding out what Brandon Rios (31-2-1, 23 KOs) has left in the tank tonight by taking the fight to Rios in the center of the ring and testing his chin in a way that he’s not been tested before.

Rios has taken beatings in his last two fights against Manny Pacquiao and Mike Alvarado in losing both fights. The kind of punishment that Rios has taken sometimes causes deterioration in a fighter. If there is any, Chaves will bring it out because he’s going to be looking to knock Rios out with every shot he throws.

“This will be war in the center of the ring,” Chaves said.

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Weights: Rios 147, Chaves 148

chaves7By Dan Ambrose: Brandon Rios (31-2-1, 23 KOs) made weight today for his fight this Saturday night against Diego Chaves (23-1, 19 KOs) at The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Rios weighed in at 147 pounds.

Surprisingly, Rios didn’t look nearly as weight-drained as he normally does for his weigh-ins. He still looked a little weight drained, but not to the extent for his recent fights.

Rios has been talking about having gone back to the basics for this fight and worked extra hard without the help of a strength and conditioning coach to help him shed the excess weight. Rios feels that he was drained from his workouts with his strength coach for his last two fights.

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Purses: Rios $925K, Chaves $25K, Vargas $125K, Novikov $105K

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By Dan Ambrose: Former WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios’ career may be on the brink of implosion on Saturday night if he gets beaten by Argentinian slugger Diego Chaves (23-1, 19 KOs), but he’s still getting paid very well by his promoters at Top Rank.

For his fight against Chaves, Rios will be getting $925,000, which is by far the biggest purse for all the fighters on the card at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

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Diego Chaves to test Brandon Rios’ chin on Saturday

chaves45555By Dan Ambrose: Former WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios (31-2-1, 23 KOs) says for his fight this Saturday night against Diego Chaves (23-1, 19 KOs) that he’s trained like he used to do when he was a world champion years ago.

Chaves is by far the biggest puncher that Rios have ever faced before during his career and he’s going to be hit a lot in this fight. Rios takes pride in having a great chin that he feels is unbreakable, but we’re going to find out if that’s true or not when he starts getting hammered by Chaves’s huge shots.

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Diego Chaves has his visa, Brandon Rios fight is on!

chaves3By Dan Ambrose: #10 IBF Diego Chaves (23-1, 19 KOs) has received his visa today to travel to the United States to face former WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios (31-2-1, 23 KOs) this Saturday night on HBO from the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

Chaves had to wait to get his visa due to a backlog on visa applications. Rios’ promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank pushed hard in reportedly contacting senator Harry Reid to see if he could speed up the process. Arum was ready to have light welterweight Jose Zepeda step in and take the fight with Rios if Chaves couldn’t get the visa.

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Arum got help with Diego Chaves’s visa by Sen. Harry Reid

chaves677By Chris Williams: Top Rank promoter Bob Arum got help by senator Harry Reid in getting the visa for Brandon Rios’ opponent for Saturday Diego Chaves (23-1, 19 KOs), according to Dan Rafael of ESPN. Arum contacted Reid when it appeared that Chaves wasn’t going to be able to get his visa in time due to a backlog of visas at the U.S immigration services.

Chaves is traveling from his home country of Argentina to face Rios in a fight televised by HBO at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

“We had Harry Reid’s office helping us with the consulate in Buenos Aires,” Arum said to Dan Rafael of EPN. “We got a call from Sen. Reid’s office that the visa was cleared. Sen. Reid knows this is an important event for Las Vegas and his office went to bat on it and accomplished a miracle.”

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Rios vs. Chaves & Kovalev vs. Caparello this Saturday on HBO BAD

riosBy Dan Ambrose: Brandon Rios (31-2-1, 23 KOs) will be fighting for the first time in nine months when he gets in the ring in fight against the tough #10 IBF Diego Chaves (23-1, 19 KOs) in a 10 round bout at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Rios-Chaves fight is part of an HBO After Dark split site double-header. WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (24-0-1, 22 KO’s) defends against #10 WBO Blake Caparello (19-0-1, 6 KOs) from the Revel Resort, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA.

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Brandon Rios: I want to get back to the position I was before

rios11112By Dan Ambrose: Former WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios (31-2-1, 23 KO’s) is calling his August 2nd fight against #10 IBF Diego Chaves (23-1, 19 KO’s) a “Do-or-die fight for me,” when he faces the tough Argentinian at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

At media workout today in Oxnard, California, Rios said Chaves is a tough fighter. I expect a hard fight and one the fans will enjoy. Believe me, I’m far from finished. I want to get to the position I was in before.”

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Brandon Rios ready for Diego Chaves

rios6By Dan Ambrose: Former WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios (31-2-1, 23 KO’s) is matched up fairly tough in a fight against #10 IBF welterweight contender Diego Chaves (23-1, 19 KO’s) in their scheduled 10 round fight in less than two weeks from now on August 2nd at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

Rios hasn’t fought since his one-sided 12 round unanimous decision loss to Manny Pacquiao last November. Rios took a beating in that fight and wasn’t competitive at all in losing the fight in Macao, China.

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