Manny Pacquiao vs. Brandon Rios: What's Next for Rios After Loss to Pac-Man?

Brandon Rios suffered his second loss in as many fights this weekend, losing by wide unanimous decision to Manny Pacquiao in Macau, China. Rios was never really in the fight and hardly won a round against the stronger, faster and more agile Pacquiao.

But Rios is one of the most exciting fighters in boxing today. His come-forward style and aggressive approach is what landed him the Pacquiao fight after his loss to Mike Alvarado last March, and while his loss to Pacquiao wasn’t nearly as close as the Alvarado bout, it won’t keep him from landing another big opportunity.

Though Rios is not an elite-level boxer, he is the kind of rough brawler who will always have options. Boxing is a sport driven by intrigue more than anything else, and Rios can be matched with plenty of Top Rank’s bevy of stars to provide exactly that.

After Rios and company are done licking their wounds, they should make themselves available for a return bout as soon as possible. As 2013 winds down, managers and promoters are already beginning to plan big fights for spring. Rios will want to part of those plans.

Probably the most intriguing bout for Rios would be a fight against Juan Manuel Marquez. While this bout might be difficult to make, the styles of the fighters match well for television. Rios comes forward and pressures his opponents. He likes to test his opponent’s will. Marquez is the consummate counterpuncher. He does his best work when someone does exactly what Rios likes to do. Moreover, the winner of the bout would be in line for a megafight later in the year.

Rios may be out of luck though. According to Boxing Scene’s Ernesto Castellanos, Marquez wants an immediate rematch with Bradley or nothing at all.

But Rios has options, and the next best would be a brawl with fellow tough guy Ruslan Provodnikov.

On paper, the bout is an immediate fight-of-the-year candidate. In fact, a bout between these two could darn well be fight of the decade.

Equally intriguing would be the mix between the fighters’ camps. Much was made of Freddie Roach and Robert Garcia’s feud during Pacquiao-Rios, and each man would be in the opposite corner again for Provodnikov-Rios.

And don’t forget about Rios’ strength and conditioning coordinator Alex Ariza, who landed a front kick on Roach last week during the prefight buildup.

Even without a fight against Marquez or Provodnikov, Rios will be fine in 2014. He’s a guy with options, remember? And one of those options just so happens to be completing an epic trilogy with Mike Alvarado.

The two sluggers first met in 2012. Rios landed clean right hands until the referee was forced to stop the action in Round 7. But in the rematch, Alvarado was able to box his way to a close but unanimous decision win to even the score.

Both men have suffered losses since, Rios to Pacquiao and Alvarado to Provodnikov. Both are badly in need of a win, and each man would have good reason to believe he could come away the victor.

Regardless, Rios is the kind of fun-loving basher that boxing fans adore. He fights mean and tough, and he seems to genuinely enjoy slugfests. He’ll come back strong and fight another crowd-pleaser just as soon as Top Rank finds his next opponent.

And that won't be too long for a guy like Rios. After all, he has options. 

Kelsey McCarson is a boxing writer for The Sweet Science and Bleacher Report. Follow him @KelseyMcCarson.