BRANDON RIOS VS. DIEGO CHAVES PREVIEW
By, James Lopez, RCM LA Boxing Correspondent
Las Vegas, NV (August 2, 2014)– Brandon Rios (31-2-1 KO 23) vs Diego Chaves (23-1 KO 19) are both strong punchers with good chins who prefer to fight coming forward. This has all the makings to be a fight of the year candidate.
Breakdown of the Fight
Size
Brandon Rios at 5’8 with a 68 inch reach has a similar physical stature as Diego Chaves who stands at 5’7 with a 66 inch reach. Neither fighter will have a major physical size advantage come fight night.
Style
Brandon Rios is a brawler. He comes forward and prefers to fight on the inside. He won’t have to worry about cutting off the ring given the fact Diego Chaves does not fight going backwards. Chaves is a come forward fighter as well, but has greater boxing abilities than Rios.
Power and Chin
Brandon Rios is a very strong puncher. His game plan will be to systematically break down Chaves as the rounds go by. He will have to work at a very fast pace given the fact it’s only a 10 round bout.
Chaves has a solid chin, but if he fights Rios’s fight and repeatedly gets tagged with flush shots he can be stopped in the later rounds. If Chaves is able to repeatedly land his own shots on Rios, it will still be difficult to stop Rios given the fact he has such a great chin.
Combinations
Brandon Rios is at his best when fighting on the inside. Rios knows how to close the gap in an effective manner. When fighting in the pocket Rios tends to throw short hooks and uppercuts to the body and the head. Even if Rios gets caught with a clean shot during an exchange, his natural tendency is to retaliate with his own shot right away. Rios can be relentless, which can breakdown an opponent as the rounds go by.
Diego Chaves does a good job picking his shots well. Chaves has a solid jab which can disrupt his opponent’s offense at times, and a good left hook to the body. Expect Chaves to throw plenty of hooks to the body and around Rios’s high guard. When Chaves is forced to fight in the pocket he will maintain the same game plan by throwing short hooks, but mixing in more uppercuts along with it. Chaves also has good counterpunching abilities when fighting on the inside or the outside.
Defense
Brandon Rios maintains a high guard defensive posture. He can show bits of head movement, but tends to block most of the shots with his gloves. Sometimes Rios’s defensive faults can cause his opponent to have defensive lapses. The reason being is when Rios is caught with a flush shot, his opponent might relax for a split second and to his surprise, Rios is already throwing a heavy shot back.
Diego Chaves is a good defensive fighter who comes forward. He has shown to have decent head movement and good counterpunching ability. At times Chaves lands a good counter and his opponent backs off because he feels his power, but it will be interesting how he deals with a fighter who has a great chin and is always coming forward. At close range he is expected to make Rios miss, but Rios will still land plenty of shots just based off his high level of activity.
Conclusion
This is a very close fight. Diego Chaves has better boxing abilities than Rios, but they are both come forward fighters, which means they will end up fighting in the pocket often. This style of fighting works toward Rios’s strength. Rios’s aggression and activity level will allow him to win rounds. In order for Chaves to counteract this, he will have to utilize his defensive skills, and sharp offensive output. Both fighters are expected to have their moments throughout the bout, but Chaves should come out with a close UD victory. The reason being is his boxing abilities should allow him to outpoint Rios in a very close affair. Nonetheless, this is a very tough fight for either fighter, and it shouldn’t come as a shock if Rios or Chaves is announced the winner at the end of the night.
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