By James Slater: So far as I know, there has been no official announcement yet, but some web sites are suggesting WBA lightweight champ Brandon Rios will defend against British contender Kevin Mitchell on the November 12th Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez III card in Las Vegas.
Supersport.com has the fight as a go in their news section and Rios is down on Boxrec.com as facing a TBA on Nov. 12th – could the internet chatter be true and “Mighty” Mitchell is indeed in line for the biggest fight of his career? Certainly, the fight if it happens, will add extra value for money to the big show at The MGM Grand.
Rios, known as “Bam Bam,” is not only one of the most exciting fighters out there today, he is also a young warrior who is being groomed for superstardom. Promoter Bob Arum has big long-term plans for the 25-year-old from Oxnard; including a possible mega-fight with Pac-Man somewhere down the road. It goes without saying how Mitchell would ruin a lot of plans if he were to upset Rios in November.
26-year-old Mitchell, 32-1(24) was talking about how he’d love a fight with the reigning WBA 135-pound champ even before he turned his career around with a sizzling stoppage win over domestic rival John Murray. In fact, both Brits were talking about the prospect of facing Rios. Mitchell, back on top as he is now after getting over losing his unbeaten record to Michael Katsidis last May, could now be on the verge of actually rumbling with the red-hot lightweight ruler.
Mitchell, who can box and bang, saw his position in the rankings go up some courtesy of the win over Murray and he is certainly a world class operator. Rios, as rough and tough as he is, could possibly have some trouble with Mitchell’s boxing savvy in the fight (if it happens) – IF Mitchell can keep his head, that is. Fans are aware of how Mitchell went to pieces in his 3rd-round loss to Katsidis, and it seemed the size of the event got to him. The critics will disagree with me when I say Mitchell is world class, and they will point to his sole loss as proof. And maybe the sheer size of a Rios challenge would get to Mitchell also.
Then again, Mitchell’s mature and impressive points win over the dangerous Bredis Prescott from December 2009 showed he can handle pressure, and if the Londoner can stick to his game-plan and fight Rios in a similar fashion, who knows? Put it this way: this match-up, if it does go ahead, will not result in a boring encounter, one way or the other.
Rios is on a roll and really looking unstoppable right now. Mitchell has regained his confidence and is arguably coming off the best win of his career. Both guys are young and hungry, and both can punch. So, even if you feel the potential clash is no biggie, it has to be conceded that, at the very least, the prospective fight would make a great supporting bout to the main event of Pac-Man-Marquez III.