By Joseph Herron: Earlier today from the Marriott Manhattan Beach on the southern California coastline, all four marquee fighters participating in tomorrow night’s HBO Boxing After Dark double header, Donaire vs. Nishioka and Rios vs. Alvarado, stepped on the official California State Athletic Commission scale to gain their respective division eligibility.
If the crowd in attendance anticipated some heated moments throughout the media event, they were ultimately disappointed. All four combatants were professional and courteous to their respective foes during the entire Top Rank special presentation.
The big question going into the official weigh-in was whether or not Brandon Rios was finally going to make the division weight limit to become eligible to compete for the WBO Latino Junior Welterweight title tomorrow night.
Before his previous two bouts, “Bam Bam” twice failed to make the Lightweight division limit of 135 pounds and wasn’t permitted to compete for the WBA lightweight Championship, although ultimately being cleared to fight.
Before the event, trainer Robert Garcia insisted that Brandon would be able to make 140 pounds comfortably.