By Keith Idec
Brandon Rios realizes the warrior within Timothy Bradley is going to create a difficult fight for him Nov. 7 in Las Vegas.
But Rios also senses Bradley might’ve accepted one grueling challenge too many after enduring several physically taxing fights the past few years. The 29-year-old Rios (33-2-1, 24 KOs) and the 32-year-old Bradley (32-1-1, 12 KOs, 1 NC) will fight for Bradley’s WBO welterweight title in a 12-round HBO “World Championship Boxing” main event next month at UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center.
“The Ruslan fight took a lot out of of him,” Rios told BoxingScene.com, referring to Bradley’s memorable brawl with Russia’s Ruslan Provodnikov in March 2013. “So did the [Jessie] Vargas fight, the [Manny] Pacquiao fight and the [Diego] Chaves fight. I could be catching him at the right time, but life is crazy. Who knows? Well find out. We’ll see on November 7th.”
Rios isn’t underestimating Bradley, though. The Oxnard, California, native knows exactly what it’s like to disprove skeptics, many of whom thought Rios was finished before he destroyed an ill-prepared Mike Alvarado in their third fight Jan. 24 in Broomfield, Colorado.
“Everybody was doubting me going into the last fight with Alvarado, saying I was done already,” Rios said. “I put that chapter behind me and I’m ready to open a new one. I’m ready to show the world that I’m not done yet.”
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.
