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The July 7 fight between former lightweight titlist Brandon Rios and Mauricio Herrera will be contested with a maximum weight of 141 pounds, rather than the 140 limit where Rios will be plying his trade in the near future, reports Ryan Burton of BoxingScene.com.
Rios (30-0-1, 22 KO) is moving up after twice failing to make 135 for his wins in December of John Murray and April over Richard Abril, the latter the most controversial decision of the year, and a flat-out robbery.
Herrera (18-2, 7 KO) is coming off of a loss to Mike Alvarado in a leading Fight of the Year candidate, and says he doesn't expect Rios to have trouble making weight.
The truth is, it's just a smart move by Top Rank or Rios' handlers or whoever came up with the idea -- giving him an extra pound allows that wiggle room for a non-title fight. It's done all the time, but usually the situation doesn't scream out to do it this way, so it's news this time.
The fight will be paired on HBO with a 122-pound title unification between Nonito Donaire and Jeffrey Mathebula.