Brandon Rios earned a chance to face a big-name fighter later this year after scoring a scintillating third-round knockout win against rival Mike Alvarado in their third showdown on Saturday in Broomfield, Colorado.
Top Rank Promotions CEO Bob Arum said that Rios, whose stock took a blow when he lost to Manny Pacquiao in November 2013, showed that he deserves a shot against a big-name opponent based on his impressive win against Alvarado, which came five months after also winning against Diego Gabriel Chaves.
"He's only going to fight in big matches, because he's one of the big time fighters that we have," Arum told BoxingScene when asked about Rios' future. "We're going to get the biggest possible fights for him."
Arum revealed to ESPN that Rios could face former welterweight champion Timothy Bradley, reigning World Boxing Council middleweight champion Miguel Cotto or undefeated welterweight contender Jessie Vargas.
Robert Garcia, Rios' trainer, also mentioned Bradley as one of the possible opponents for his fighter, but the world renowned boxing coach is also interested in matching Rios up against Victor Ortiz or Juan Manuel Marquez.
"We're mentioning Ortiz, honestly, I don't think HBO would approve that fight but we would love to, we would love to," Garcia told Tha Boxing Voice. "You know there are bigger names, bigger money fight. Marquez, I don't think Marquez will fight him, but there's Marquez. Hopefully, we can convince him to fight. Bradley is there."
Rios improved his record to 33-2-1 with 24 knockout victories after the win against Alvarado, and the 28-year-old said that the emphatic victory proved that he is still among the top welterweights in the world.
"I am back. Everybody forgot about me. But I am back," Rios said following his victory against Alvarado. "I prepared myself very well. I am motivated to get back to the top. I didn't want my career to end now. I didn't want that to happen. I am still young in the sport, still have a lot in my tank."
