Promoters are looking at Provodnikov vs. Rios-Chaves winner

In addition to the talks of putting Chris Algieri in the ring with Manny Pacquiao, preliminary discussions are also taking place to put Ruslan Provodnikov up against the Rios-Chaves winner in November, according to RingTV.

"We're also talking about an opponent for Ruslan, and I would like to see the winner between Brandon Rios and Diego Chaves fight Ruslan in November," said Pelullo. "We've discussed, that, Arum and I, so that would be another scenario. The winner of Rios-Chaves would be a great fight."

A potential showdown between Ruslan Provodnikov and Brandon Rios is a fight fan's wet dream and has been clamored for in recent months. Quite frankly, should Rios get past Chaves, a fight between him and Provodnikov should have the whole fight world salivating. It would be a can't miss action fight that's all but certain to live up to expectations. Heck, throw out the notions of star power and fan bases, this is the kind of event that hardcore and casual fans alike would pony up to see. Its certainly more PPV worthy, from an entertainment standpoint, than 98% of what we're offered.

Of course, should Rios beat Chaves and then be immediately thrown in with Provodnikov it would only further my notion that Top Rank has little interest in the long term well-being of Brandon Rios after a tough run of battles. Yet I'm thoroughly intrigued by the potential match-up. So, yes, I'm conflicted. But EXCITED!

I suppose I don't really need to ask who'd like to see Rios take on Provodnikov this fall, and Chaves-Provodnikov wouldn't be a terribly bad scrap either. So I'll just say cheers to the potential carnage!