No Pacquiao-Rios showdown for now

MANILA, Philippines — Bob Arum will not put the young lion in there with the leader of the pride.

Not yet.

“In a year or two,” the Hall of Fame promoter told the Bulletin yesterday as he was preparing to go on a three-week holiday to the South of France.

The young lion is no other than Brandon Rios, the brash and heavy-handed world lightweight champion who overpowered rugged puncher Urbano Antillon over the weekend.

Of course, the leader of the pride is Manny Pacquiao, the Filipino idol regarded as boxing’s pound-for-pound king.

“If he keeps on winning, I’ll put him with Manny Pacquiao,” Arum said from Los Angeles.

The match-up is going to be “unbelievable” said Arum, thrilled that another guy is making a name for himself as a worthy challenger to Pacquiao’s coveted crown.

Arum has grand plans for Pacquiao and Rios, who are headed on a collision course “down the road,” noted Arum.

Since Rios, the reigning WBA lightweight champion, fights at 135 lbs and Pacquiao campaigns at 147 lbs (welterweight), it would need some seasoning on Rios’s part for such a mouth-watering matchup to be arranged.

To prepare Rios for the Pacquiao challenge, Arum is expected to feed him a steady diet of big-name opponents at 140 lbs (super-lightweight) and he might even dip his fingers at 147 lbs for the sake of keep the flames burning for a Pacquiao fight.

But everything would all depend on what Rios and Pacquiao will look like in their future fights.

Pacquiao is set to face Juan Manuel Marquez on Nov. 12, while Arum will likely keep Rios’ name afloat either by putting him underneath a Pacquiao show or giving him a headliner of his own.

Nick Giongco, Manila Bulletin