Former Lightweight champion Brandon 'Bam bam' Rios believes he was just one of the many handpicked fighters pitted against Manny Pacquiao, the Texan boxer said on Monday.
The 27-year-old Rios did not think twice in saying that he was tapped to fight Pacquiao next because he lost his last fight.
Rios, the former WBA Lightweight champion, is fresh from suffering his first loss of his career at the hands of Mike Alvarado via unanimous decision.
Rios knocked out Alvarado in the seventh round of their first fight last year but the latter came up with a better game plan in their second bout to outpoint his rival last March.
According to the Boston Herald, Rios promised to bring his best against Pacquiao and warned he would eventually regret picking him in the first place.
"He [Pacquiao] picked me because I lost. They probably think Brandon is easy to hit. Brandon gets hit all the time. It's a very different story when you get in the ring with me...they made a mistake picking me," Rios said according to the Herald on Monday.
Known as a power puncher, Rios poses a real danger to Pacquiao's boxing profession. Now in the twilight of his career, the Filipino boxer is coming from a devastating sixth-round knockout loss to his main rival Juan Manuel Marquez in their superfight last December.
Prior to the Marquez fight, Pacquiao also lost via unanimous decision to Timothy Bradley, although the bout was marred with controversy for questionable scoring.
Pacquiao, who's running unopposed to represent the lone district of Saranggani in the Philippine Congress, will be making his return to the ring on November 24 at the Venetian Macau in China.
It will be the first time Pacquiao fight outside the United State since peppering Mexico's Oscar Larios to a unanimous decision win in 2006.
Meanwhile, Rios is set to receive his highest paycheck of his career for fighting Pacquiao.
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