Former WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios (32-2-1, 23 KOs) won’t be going back and clearing up the huge controversy surrounding his 9th round disqualification win over Diego Chaves from earlier this month. Instead, Rios is being matched up by his promoters at Top Rank against former WBO light welterweight champion Ruslan Provodnikov (23-3, 16 KOs) this November, according to Boxingsphere. The negotiations are underway right now between the two fighter’s management.
Rios was on his way to losing to Diego Chaves when referee Vic Drakulitch stepped in and stopped the fight in the 9th round following a head-lock that Chaves had put on Rios. It was later learned that Drakulich had disqualified Chaves for throwing an elbow at some point in the 9th round. It didn’t take place at the time of the stoppage because Chaves didn’t throw an elbow.