By Luis Sandoval

The rematch between Mike Alvarado and Brandon Rios this past Saturday night produced an all out war that has left many fans salivating for third fight to happen next. There are also those who believe both men should take a different fight and then revisit for a rubber match sometime down the line. Top Rank CEO Bob Arum is one of those who believe a different direction might be best as he let the media know Saturday night that he’s not a fan of immediate rematches despite Rios-Alvarado II being just that.

After receiving the first loss of his career, Rios made it known he wanted a third installment as soon as possible as he crashed Alvarado’s post fight interview to remind his opponent he had given him a shot at redemption and he should return the favor.

While both fighters agreed on the spot a third fight should happen next, the final decision comes down to the promoters and managers involved.

Brandon may want his chance at revenge right away but his trainer Robert Garcia doesn’t necessarily think the third fight should happen immediately. Garcia was on the most recent edition of BoxingScene Radio and said while he definitely thinks a third fight needs to happen at some point, he’s also open for both Rios and Alvarado to take a break from each other.

“Well the third fight definitely has to happen but we're not pushing for it to be our next fight. These guys can fight one or two fights before fighting each other and just make it a bigger fight down the [line]. I think they both have the potential of doing their own thing for a couple of fights and then build up to a bigger third fight maybe next year or even two years from now; I don't know, that's up to Bob Arum and Cameron Dunkin our manager. But there's no need to do it right away. Brandon wants it right away but Cameron is a great manager and he's going to do what's best for his fighter. Maybe taking two fights before this and then fighting Alvarado sometime next year” Garcia would tell BoxingScene Radio.

There are plenty of options for both Rios and Alvarado to take should they decide to go a different direction. Current WBO Welterweight champion Timothy Bradley and Ruslan Provodnikov recently put on their own war a few weeks ago and could easily be matched against Rios or Alvarado. You also have the big names of the division in Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez who could decide not to fight a fifth time and be looking for other opponents themselves. Throw in undefeated Jessie Vargas and Khabib Allakhverdiev and you have even more options to choose from.

While Garcia might be fine with going a different direction for now, Rios may not be as willing to look elsewhere. Garcia informs that Rios is already gearing up to get back to training and wants to fight as early as June or July.

“[Brandon] hates to have a loss on his record and he's calling me saying he's going to train next week already again because he wants to fight right away. He's telling me to tell Cameron to get him another fight in June or July and you know, that's something that we'll talk over with Cameron Dunkin. But he wants to get back in there. He hates losing and then he sees the fight over and over and he sees the same thing: close rounds that if they would've gone to Brandon nobody would've refuted that. The fight was so close it was just the way it was. He felt that he won. He's seen the fight and he sees that there are a few rounds that could've gone his way but went to Alvarado. But we're not going to argue that. It was [Alvarado's] night and he fought a beautiful fight. Alvarado did do a good job and fought smart especially after the second half of the fight. He fought very smart and dominated by boxing and outboxing Brandon so we're not arguing that. It's just going to make a third fight more exciting” said Garcia.

Top Rank will have to start mixing and matching their fighters in the 140 and 147 pound divisions to make the best possible fights not only for the fans, but for the fighters themselves. At the end of the day you have to imagine whichever fights make the most sense financially for the fighters is going to be route they end up taking. If a third fight between Rios and Alvarado happens next, we simply just need to prepare to witness one of the best trilogies the sport will have produced.

To listen to Robert Garcia’s interview in its entirety you can listen to the BoxingScen Radio podcast: http://tobtr.com/s/4496211

You can follow Luis Sandoval on Twitter @Truewest007. You can also tune in to BoxingScene Radio, every Tuesday from 6-8PM PST with hosts Ernest Gabion, Luis Sandoval, and Ryan Burton.