On Monday afternoon, inside of the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, Top Rank will stage a press conference for their October 13th HBO double header. That evening, inside of the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, IBF/WBO junior bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire will meet former champion Toshiaki Nishioka while former lightweight boss Brandon Rios faces the daunting challenge of Mike Alvarado in the co-feature.
Little in terms of fireworks is expected from Donaire and Nishioka given their modest and respectful nature towards one another, but that likely won’t be the case for Rios and Alvarado. Savoring the opportunity as the biggest of his career, Alvarado has come out of the gates with confidence, claiming he will stop Rios within six or seven rounds. Catching up with Rios during his training last week at the Robert Garcia Boxing Academy in Oxnard, the jovial 26-year old seemed to be in a welcoming mood towards Alvarado’s claims.
“That’s all good,” Rios would tell me. “Let him say what he says. I can’t speak for him. That’s his opinion. My opinion is that I’m just going to be ready.”
The stage seems to be set for some friendly fire but there is still some uncertainty regarding a presser that was originally scheduled for one week later involving Manny Pacquiao.
Tuesday, September 4th was the target date to officially announce Pacquiao’s next opponent, as the eight-division champion was in line for a November 10th return at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, but there is nothing set in stone at the moment.
It has been quite the chore apparently as far as rounding up Pacquiao’s next foe, with Timothy Bradley, Juan Manuel Marquez, and Miguel Cotto all said to be in consideration for the Filipino star. The fact that the date was being considered for a move to December 1st didn’t help matters and at this point the boxing world is still waiting on the announcement, with Marquez reportedly being the favorite to step in.
“To tell you the truth, I haven’t heard anything from anyone about it,” a source very close to Pacquiao would tell me on Sunday of the official press conference.
So, while Donaire, Rios, and company will offer up some dialogue later this afternoon, it remains to be seen when we will next see Pacquiao on the dais.
