On the night of September 11th my opinion of Brandon ?Bam Bam? Rios was pretty high as he spoke to the press from the Palms Casino and Resort. Earlier that night Rios had delivered a impressive performance in out slugging and outlasting undefeated Anthony Peterson, stunning him in the 4th round, dropping him to the deck in the 5th and winning the bout in the 7th round by way of disqualification after his 25-year old foe repeatedly went low.
Rios spoke of his victory, his relationship with his trainer Robert Garcia and how happy he was to have overcame his past, when he was caught up in the wrong crowd and partying a little more than he would have liked. Fresh off of a marriage to his new bride Vicky, Rios seemed like a man who had been humbled in many ways and was an easy pug to root for.
<--- Slideshow: Images from Thursday?s undercard press conference
Even during his appearances on the recent Pacquiao-Margarito 24/7 series Rios? outspoken nature and trash talking seemed to be the actions of a hyperactive soul looking to stir the pot more than anything else. Rios is a stable mate of Antonio Margarito, who faces Manny Pacquiao this weekend in Arlington, Texas and Rios will see action on the undercard. During his 24/7 takes Rios claimed Margarito was simply too physically imposing for Pacquiao and even questioned whether the Filipino fighter would go through with the fight.
While Rios? action obviously showed him to be slightly devious in his ways, it was absolutely shocking to see him in a recent video conducted by AOL Fanhouse?s Elie Seckbach in which he and Margarito poked fun of Freddie Roach and his Parkinson?s disease. While their has been tension between the two camps, seeing Rios shiver and stutter as if to mimic Roach was very disgraceful.
There was a wave of backlash from the video and Rios suddenly became a heated enemy to many of the Pacquiao faithful, who are also adamantly loyal to Roach. When receiving word of the video Roach apparently became very heated himself and claimed that he was going to confront both men himself but he has since taken the high road and claimed he simply wants to focus on the fight between Pacquiao and Margarito in just a few days.
While Rios? reputation will be tainted for a while because of his actions, he still would have served himself well by issuing an apology for what transpired and that is exactly what he did. Speaking to AOL Fanhouse?s Lem Satterfield, Rios gave his take on the incident.
?I want to get one thing off of my chest to everybody out there,? Rios stated. ?You know the video we did, me and my stable mate, it wasn?t to anybody out there with any kind of illness or nothing like that. It was between camps and camps. They were making fun of our camps so things got heated up at the moment.?
Rios is a great talent who has stood out because of his up tempo style, calculated aggression and ability to break his opponents down on the inside. If he can get past his opponent this weekend, Canada’s Omri Lowther, the 24-year old could be in line for a crack at a title sometime next year, as his bout with Peterson was a WBA eliminator. Before anything else though, Rios recognized what needed to be done on a personal level and his apology was a step in the right direction.
?We came out with a video that should have never been up. It was a bad thing to happen and I take full responsibility for what I did. I?m being a man about it. I?m just sorry, and if Freddie Roach is out there watching or listening, I?m sorry and it had nothing to do with your illness or nothing like that. I?m sorry and I guess we can move forward from now.?
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Chris Robinson is based out of Las Vegas, Nevada. He can be reached at [email protected]
