By Luis Sandoval

Bam Bam Brandon Rios is coming off a tough victory by disqualification against Jesus Chaves where fouling and dirty tactics were seen throughout the fight. By the 9th round referee Vic Drakulich had seen enough and disqualified Chaves giving Rios his first victory since 2012.

Rios, who was suffering from a pinched nerve before the fight, recently had that taken care of and his arm is currently in a sling for the next couple weeks before he can resume his normal training activity. Brandon is eager to get back in the ring and though he leaves his next opponent up to his manager Cameron Dunkin, he does have one guy who he’s targeting.

“Cotto. It would be a bad ass fight because [Miguel] Cotto likes to fight,” Rios would tell BoxingScene with a smile. “I’ll go up to 152. We can fight at 152. I heard he’s looking for an opponent in December. I’m ready. I’ll be ready for December”.

Cotto is currently the WBC Middleweight champion but his natural weight class is 7 pound south at Junior Middleweight. Rios is willing to go up to take the fight but Cotto would need to fight below 154 to make the fight a possibility.

Another fight that has been discussed for Rios is against hard hitting Ruslan Provodnikov. Both men are currently in different divisions but Ruslan has come up before to Welterweight and most recently did it against Timothy Bradley last year. Rios would still want to pursue that fight but reveals the money would need to be right.

“I’m not scared of Provodnikov. Everybody thinks I’m scared of Provodnikov. Everyone thinks I’m scared of that fight; show me the money. They put up some money for it, I’ll do it. You know I’m not going to fight him for stupid money because it is a dangerous fight for both of us. And I’m not going to fight for stupid money. Show me some money and I’ll fight him, no problem. I have no problem fighting him,” said Rios.

Brandon plans to let his arm rest another two weeks and then will be right back in the gym and waiting on his next assignment. Regardless of who he fights next, Rios wants a meaningful fight and a chance to get back to the top.

You can follow Luis Sandoval on Twitter & Instagram @Truewest007.