Brandon "Bam Bam" Rios is set to take on Manny Pacquiao this Saturday in what could be a career-defining bout in Macau, China. Win or lose though, Rios is eyeing a move up to light middleweight, and his trainer Robert Garcia has a name in mind for Rios' next bout.
"Whatever is out there for Brandon, be it 140 or 147, maybe 154, maybe we will go after [Miguel] Cotto," Garcia said. "Brandon is a little bit taller than him, who knows. It all depends what Top Rank, what Cameron Dunkin wants to do. Brandon is a very strong fighter and if everything goes the way we planned, there are many options at welterweight, at 140 and even at 154."
Garcia wanted to be clear that Rios' focus is on Pacquiao this Saturday, however. "Right now, we are all thinking about fighting Manny and that is the only fight we are thinking about." Garcia also said "If things go the way we want them to go this weekend, why not 154. He is as tall as any other 154 out there. Why not?"
Rios is a big underdog against Pacquiao, who is trying to force his way back into the Floyd Mayweather Jr. conversation, but he has spoken confidently of his chances in China. "I gotta go in there, I gotta retire you. I gotta retire Manny Pacquiao, because I'm the next star," Rios said directly to Pacquiao on HBO's Face Off.
The stakes were raised this week when the two fighters' trainers got involved in some fisticuffs, with Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach hurling racist slurs about Mexicans and Jews, then getting kicked in the chest by Rios' strength trainer Alex Ariza and having his speech mocked. Roach suffers from Parkinson's disease and struggles with a noticeable stutter.
Roach now believes Pacquiao is out for revenge for Team Rios' conduct. "Initially I didn't think the fight would go six rounds, and after the way he's worked out, I don't think it will go four."
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