By Ryan Burton

Former lightweight champion "Bam Bam" Brandon Rios was on hand last Friday night to watch his stablemate Kelly "The Ghost" Pavlik's seven round beatdown of Scott Sigmon. Pavlik's opponent talked a lot of trash leading up to the fight and showed his confidence by entered the ring to the tune of "Ghost Busters".  Rios said that he was very impressed with Pavlik's performance.

"He did good. The guy (Sigmon) was tough.  He hit the guy with everything and he didn't want to go down.  He was a tough country dude," Rios told BoxingScene.com.

Pavlik hit Sigmon early and often opening up several cuts on his face. With Sigmon's face a bloody mess, the ringside doctor finally saw enough and mercifully stopped the fight after the 7th round was completed.  Rios said that Sigmon would have been in even worse condition if the fight had continued.

"He was taking a beating.  If it went longer I think it would have been worse.  It didn't need to go any longer.  The doctor made a good decision."

Rios is scheduled to face Mauricio Herrera on July 7th at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. The fight is part of a doubleheader that will be televised by HBO and will also feature the unification clash between WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire and IBF super bantamweight champion Jeffrey Mathebula.

The Herrera fight will mark Rios' first venture in the junior welterweight division after failing to get down to the 135 pound limit in his past two fights.  Rios vows to return to the form that made him a fan favorite and lead to a string of exciting victories.

"I am feeling great.  I am already at 149 or 150 (pounds).  They (the fans) are going to see the guy that was making 135 comfortably.  They are going to see the guy that fought Acosta at his best.  The guy that fought (Urbano) Antillon and fought Anthony Peterson," Rios concluded.

Send questions or comments to ringsidewriter@gmail.com Follow Ryan on Twitter @ringsidewriter and tune in to The Boxing Lab, BoxingScene's official audio on Tuesdays. The show is hosted by Ernie Gabion, Luis Sandoval and Ryan Burton