By Keith Idec

When Teddy Atlas looks at Brandon Rios, he sees the same fresh, ferocious fighter Rios was before difficult fights against Mike Alvarado, Manny Pacquiao and Diego Chaves.

The 29-year-old Rios (33-2-1, 24 KOs) is a 6-1 underdog as his Nov. 7 fight against Timothy Bradley approaches. Atlas, who has replaced longtime trainer Joel Diaz in Bradley’s corner, has been working with Bradley (32-1-1, 12 KOs, 1 NC) in Indio, California, since early September.

“I think he’s what he’s always been,” Atlas told BoxingScene.com regarding Rios. “I don’t think he has deteriorated, as some people might. I think he’s what he’s always been – a real tough fighter. It’s gonna be a tough fight. I think he’s a tough guy that’s very determined, that has a real good chin, that comes forward.

“He has the capacity to endure. He has the capacity to come forward from the first round through the 12th round. He’s busy and he’s physically strong. That’s what he’s always been. He also has a good, hard jab. A lot of people probably underrate him in that area. They just look at the other punches because of his style. But he’s got a good, hard jab, too, and it can be very effective.”

Rios stopped an ill-prepared Alvarado (34-4, 23 KOs) in the third round of his last fight, which resulted in a third-round technical knockout Jan. 24 in Broomfield, Colorado.

The Oxnard, California native’s previous fight was a rough, foul-filled affair against Chaves (23-2-1, 19 KOs), who was disqualified in the ninth round of their August 2014 encounter in Las Vegas. The Chaves clash marked Rios’ return from the brutal beating he took against Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38 KOs), who drilled the brave but overmatched Rios repeatedly with power punches throughout a one-sided, 12-round fight in November 2013 in Macau, China.

HBO will televise the Bradley-Rios fight as the main event of a “World Championship Boxing” doubleheader from UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. Ukraine’s Vasyl Lomachenko (4-1, 2 KOs) will defend his WBO featherweight title against Mexico’s Romulo Koasicha (25-4, 15 KOs) in the opening bout.

Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.