That'd be a great fight. Khan keeps talking about moving up but there's still loads of top fights for him at 140 if he can get them. Rios, Bradley, Marquez, Alexander. At 147 there's a lot of fights I'd be interested in too but he'd be the 3rd best fighter in the division. If he can stay at 140 he has a good chance of becoming a dominant champion and get more experience before moving up. If he times it right Pac and May will be past it by the time he goes up.
Ah, my apologies to Mr Lowther. What is he then a contender? Because when you're the 'opponent' or 'showcase' for someone like Rios you're heading into journeyman status if you're not there already. Anyway the point stands. Watch how Lowther fought Rios in those first couple of rounds. Someone who can sustain that and keep their bearings is gonna give Rios fits. You don't have to be the most skilled fighter. Khan has more than enough to beat Rios handily.
Is that the fight on the Pac-Margarito undercard. If its the fight im thinking of then Rios looked VERY ordinary.
Rios would beat Maidana quite easily in my opinion. Vs. Khan though, I think it would be a different matter. I could see him taking the fight into the inside enough for him to pick up a few rounds but Khan's back foot, in and out tactics would prove dominant I feel and would see him winning a pts decision.
I think the stylistic matchup between Maidana and Rios favours Rios, in that he's a come forward fighter who would like to back Maidana up, who in turn is nothing when he's not coming forward throwing lots of punches. But the obvious caveat is the power of his right hand, Rios does get hit a lot and Maidana can fire in lefts to the body too to slow him down. For me, Maidana is the sort of opponent you'd like to take control of from the word go. Establish a centre ring position and keep something in his face, mix up between rights to the body and lead left hooks to stop him finding his range with the right hand.
I think Rios has a slightly more capability to change his game up and box a bit more. I also think Rios is a shorter more compact puncher than Maidana. To me Maidana is crude and sloppy with his punches. I think Rios fights with a but more method, a bit more intelligence, and I think that would ultimately serve him. I think Ortiz doesn't have the greatest chin, so I dont see Maidana as that great a puncher. Infact I would suggest if Rios was gonna get hurt, that maybe Acosta had more chance of hurting him than Maidana, cause I believe Maidana hits hard cause he's big for the weight, where as Acosta might just naturally hit hard, and is quicker. Also, Morales barely ever moves his head and yet was still able to exist fighting in the pocket against Maidana. I know its all ifs and buts, but lets say Ortiz doesn't quit against Maidana, does Maidana still win? If Khan is fighting his usual style of hit and move, and isn't holding his feet too much looking to KO Maidana, does Maidana catch up to him as much? These are valid questions marks I would have. Personally I'm not sold on Maidana. I remember when people were claiming he had more Boxing skills than Prescott, which is ridiculous, cause Prescott clearly has more skill imo.
Rios also has the better chin imo. Edit: He is the more durable. Maidana has been dropped by head and body shots.