Brandon Rios- a better fighter post Manny fight?

[walrus]

Bring on Ortiz and rios should call it a day.

He is already punch drunk and he is truly killing himself in that ring.

I agree with you although in the prefight interviews this time around he seemed more Lucid and intact than I have seen for a time. He didn't even swear. But in the end he is the same fighter, his head may have been more in the game as he had been saying if he lost this fight his career would be over. I think he was overwhelmed by the whole Manny thing but he went twelve rounds which were extremely unhealthy for him. I think Manny turned down the volume so to speak but Rios stood up to a tremendous beating. I have actually been worried since the second Alvarado fight and even before. Definitely seemed punch drunk. This win will definitely help his career but it was not much of a fight. He didn't fight Mike Alvarado, I don't know who the he'll was in that ring but it wasn't Alvarado. I was very sad, and a bit pissed off, to see Alvarado perform the way he did. Whenever those two meet they make it a FOTY candidate and if Mike showed up for the fight it probably would have been as Rios was game. It really pissed me off. Alvarado is one of my favorites and I was looking forward to the fight since it was announced. I even told a few of my friends who aren't into boxing to watch it as I figured sparks would fly. I hope Mike straightened things out, this would be a bad way for a guy who has showed a lot of heart to leave the square circle.

[Spicoli]

Before it started he did sound and look sharp and in shape. I don't think he is 'better', he's just where he should have been in the first place. Truth though is he was beating up a ghost who accumulated tons of damage. He may do very well vs Ortiz but he is just a one or two beatings away from selling oranges on the corner if he doesn't stay smart and comes in like a fatty.

[ElTerribleMorales]

no, lets see him do that to Provodnikov, and that's not even a guy who can box, IMO Algieri even has a good chance at outboxing Rios, he's not very good and honestly has always been pretty average with a better than average chin, nothing else

[pacfan]

Not necessarily. I think he just figured out the right way to fight the fella. I mean how to get through Alvarado's two-armed defense. It was of course the uppercut. He just kept on slipping his uppercuts between the arms of Alvarado and when he did that, Alvarado's defense started to open up and he was done. It was just a matter of style coupled with agressiveness that made his performance impressive that night, imo.

[Kirkland Laing]

Rios would have had much tougher rounds in sparring than how the fight turned out. I think he gets battered versus any top welterweight but would make any fight competitive. Maybe he gets the Provodnikov-Matthysse winner though. He's got at least one big payday left in him.

[ykdadamaja]

Well, @g3org3 may be right with the "junkie bit". Even during the pre fight and the post fight interviews Alvarado sounded like a hyped up junkie looking for a good fix. And as it was mentioned, I did some background on Alvarado and there are several reports of him abusing drugs.

Even during the fight with Rios he got a shot to the nose and the blood started to pour. I said to myself that seems to be a very tender nose...

So, with that being said, let's see Rios vs. Provo/JMM or Brook?

[SlimTrae]

Until he fights a live fighter, hard to tell. Losing to Pac is nothing he should worry about. Pac is in a different class.