Garcia: Provodnikov Fight Will Alway Be There For Rios

By Radio Rahim

Robert Garcia, the trainer of former world champion Brandon Rios (33-2-1, 24KOs), says his fighter was in no way avoiding a potential fight with Ruslan Provodnikov (24-4, 17KOs).

Since the start of the year, fans have been talking up a possible Rios-Provodnikov collision. The fight had been mentioned at one point to Garcia and Rios, but it never materialized.  

Rios and his team started negotiating for a fight with WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley. At one point those negotiations fell apart and Rios' attention turned to Provodnikov. But then Bradley was back in the picture and a deal was eventually finalized for an HBO date of November 7th at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

Garcia explains that a fight with Provodnikov will always be there for Rios and the 'Siberian Rocky' could even become their next opponent.

"Brandon was ready to fight anybody, and yes there was also talk [of Provodnikov]...at first there was talk of Bradley but then for whatever reason they said Bradley didn't want the fight or whatever it was. Now we know, because he was having trouble with [former trainer] Joel [Diaz], so the fight didn't happen," Garcia told BoxingScene.com.

"Then there was talk of [Rios] fighting Provodnikov. We were ready for it, Brandon was ready for it. But then we get the opportunity against Bradley. Provodnikov is always going to be there. Provodnikov could be our next fight. Brandon will be ready for Bradley this time. His focus is only on Bradley and nobody else."