Brandon Rios tells Victor Ortiz to f*** off, praises Donaire and eyes Acosta......

Sitting inside of the Key West Ballroom at the Palms Hotel and Casino on Thursday afternoon, it was hard to get a gauge on the mindset of lightweight contender Brandon 'Bam Bam' Rios. Set to face off with WBA champion Miguel Acosta this Saturday night, Rios could be forgiven for being on edge or a little anxious heading into the first world title shot of his young career but his demeanor told the tale of a man who is ready to get the party started.

"I'm not nervous," Rios claimed. "I'm ready to become a world champion. There is no nervous in me right now. I'm very focused and I'm very ready."

A year ago Rios was an unknown and unproven commodity in the sport but he had a breakthrough 2010 ledger that saw him tear through Brooklyn's Jorge Teron in February and bully Anthony Peterson seven months later before capturing a disqualification victory. In each outing Rios showed ample aggression and punching power that many had not pegged him to have.

Rios is knocking on the door but insists it has been his changes outside of the sport that have allowed him to come into his own as a fighter. Once known for hitting the bottle and losing his focus, Rios has been a man on a mission the past year of his life.

"I think I've grown a lot and I think I've shown the world a lot," he continued. "Two or three years ago I wouldn't be in a position to be fighting for a world title. It just shows you, how I dominated Teron and dominated Peterson, that I am ready for the best out there and Miguel Acosta is the best."

Rios is an outspoken guy, never one to shy away from a little bit of trash talk, and has had some venomous words in the past months for junior welterweight contender Victor Ortiz. The two men used to be stable mates but there relationship has since soured, with Rios harboring much disdain towards his old friend.

Ortiz of course is moving up from 140 pounds to challenge Andre Berto for his WBC welterweight crown on April 16th, a move that undoubtedly pushes the two men further away from one day facing each other as professionals. Asked if he was bothered by the thought of possibly never being able to sink his teeth into Ortiz, Rios denied as much.

"I'm not disappointed," Rios refuted. "It's like whatever. It's like, why should I fight a girl? I don't need to fight a girl to show that I am the man. **** him. I moved on to better things already and I'm not worrying about it. After the fight with Berto he's done."

The Rios-Acosta scrap is just one bout in a long list of events already scheduled or rumored to be landing in the Vegas area. Wanting to get Rios' take on his fellow brethren, I asked him about some upcoming showcases in Nevada, starting with a potential July 23rd encounter between junior welterweight champions Timothy Bradley and Amir Khan.

"It's going to be a good fight," said Rios. "I don't know, Amir Khan, I know he's fast and everything, but he just better watch out for those heads. Other than that it's going to be a good fight because they are both quick and they are both strong."

Rios' dig was in reference to Bradley unfortunately leading with his head on occasion, as evidenced by the jarring head butts that he has delivered on his opponents, including his most recent foe Devon Alexander. An accidental head butt forced the Bradley-Alexander fight to the cards in the tenth round on January 29th with the Palms Springs fighter walking away with a technical decision.

Another top junior welterweight will get to work on April 9th when fierce puncher Marcos Maidana meets up with former three-division champion Erik Morales at the MGM Grand. Morales was a fine champion from 122 to 130 pounds but he is fighting out of his natural division and at age 34 isn't the same man anymore.

Rios sees the fight as more of a massacre than an actual fight, like several others do.

"I think Erik Morales is taking a big risk with his career," Rios said almost dumbfounded. "He wants to come back and do something but I don't think it's going to happen with Maidana. Maidana is going to tear him apart."

During our conversation last September, Rios was adamant about one day luring lineal champion Juan Manuel Marquez into the ring. However, the latest news has Marquez considering breaking his ties with Golden Boy Promotions in an attempt to secure a third bout with Filipino star Manny Pacquiao, who is promoted by rival promoter Top Rank.

That is definitely where the pride and money is at for the 37-year old but Rios hasn't lost hope on getting Marquez quite yet.

"Hopefully I get him before Pacquiao does," Rios noted. "And if I do, ****, I don't think he will be fighting Pacquiao. Because if me and him get it on, I think I could take him. I'm young and I'm ready and I'm hungry. Hopefully he gives me the chance."

Closing our conversation out, I had to get Rios' take on Nonito Donaire, a friend and stable mate of his. Last weekend the Fil-Am fighter scored the biggest win of his career in stopping Los Mochis, Mexcio's Fernando Montiel with a beautiful left hook that all but ended the contest in the second round on his way to securing the WBC and WBO bantamweight titles.

Often crude and gregarious, Rios had only admiration for his buddy.

"He did a beautiful job. One-hitter quitter. That's all he did. He did it nice and he's very strong. I think if he goes up to 126 he beats Juan Manuel Lopez. I think right now he's doing really good in his career and he's looking really good."

:blurp