Brandon "Bam Bam" Rios came into his bout with Manny Pacquiao last Saturday night with a reputation of being a fierce and exciting brawler. He left Cotai Resort in Macau, China, with a swollen right eye, a label as a punching bag and a lopsided loss by unanimous decision.
Rios will be back, but his camp would be wise to put him in the ring with an opponent who can be the Micky Ward to his Arturo Gatti.
Rios' lack of hand and foot speed have never been more exposed. Any fighter he fights who has an advantage in speed and agility will look to make Rios chase him all night, much like Pacquiao did. It seems clear that the best potential fights for Rios from here on out are the ones that favor his first fight with Mike Alvarado.
Alvarado and Rios had slugged it out for nearly the entire night until Rios prevailed with a seventh-round TKO. In the rematch, Alvarado employed more movement, with his speed and boxing skills earning him the unanimous decision.
Who can Rios fight who would put him back in his element? Here's a short list of fighters who would make sense, at least from a ring strategy standpoint. These fighters may not be practical options right now because they currently fight for Golden Boy, but stylistically they are right up Rios' alley.
Lucas "The Machine" Matthysse
Coming off an unanimous-decision loss to Danny Garcia on the undercard of the Floyd Mayweather-Danny Garcia bout, Matthysse needs a big win to restore some faith in his status as a contender. Coming into the fight, Matthysse was gaining a reputation as one of the most feared men at 140-147 pounds. He'd be moving up to welterweight, much like Rios did for the Pacquiao fight.
Garcia tamed the beast and now Matthysse has to rebuild. Although the Argentinian is a more-skilled boxer than Rios, he is, by nature, a seek-and-destroy fighter. He'll be there for Rios to fight, and Bam Bam's impressive chin will really be tested against Matthysse.
If Rios were to win a slugfest over 'The Machine," he'd gain even more respect as an entertaining brawler.
Randall "Knockout King" Bailey
Bailey is another slugger with big-time power, but he isn't one for dancing around or a high boxing acumen. He comes to the ring to finish his opponent and has scored 37 knockouts in 52 professional fights. Bailey also fought last Saturday night, scoring a win by disqualification when his opponent, Humberto Toledo, pushed referee Frank Satore, per LatinBox Sports.
This is an opponent who Rios can look good against, but one who could also offer a decent amount of resistance. At 39 years old for Bailey, this would likely represent a return to HBO and the last solid payday for him, barring an upset win for the Floridian.
Jesus Soto Karass
This could be a premature projection considering that Soto Karass is scheduled to take on Keith "One Time" Thurman on Dec. 14 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. However, I'd be shocked if Soto Karass defeats Thurman.
Thus, Soto Karass would be coming off a loss and on a similar fight schedule as Rios. Like Rios, Soto Karass doesn't have the swiftest feet or hands, but he's tough as nails.
He has a great chin and he's feisty. He stopped Andre Berto in July to set up the bout with Thurman. These two could put on quite a slugfest if given the opportunity.
Follow me for news and musings on The Sweet Science.
Read more Boxing news on BleacherReport.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment