"You know, here's the thing, if Rios wants, let me show you how to get to 135. Not only will I guarantee that he'll make 135 and be an animal the next night, I'll even do it for free if he's not," stated world-class strength & conditioning coach Alex Ariza, who shared his thoughts on the struggles of former lightweight champion Brandon Rios to make weight and how it's affected his recent performances. According to Ariza, contrary to popular belief, Rios actually is a 135-pound fighter and should still be able to make the lightweight limit without having to kill himself to do it.
"Everybody is saying he's just not a 135-pounder. He is. A guy with a body like that, trust me, you're a 135-pounder. He just needs help. His job is just to be a fighter. He needs a professional," Ariza explained. Just by looking at the body of Rios in last Saturday's clash with Richard Abril, Ariza is confident that Brandon can still be a force in the lightweight division.
"I can tell you this because I know from experience. Diego Corrales used to be the same way. Now, the closest comparison I have is look at Julio; look at his old fights. Soft around the middle, no defintion, no muscle symmetry, no balance muscle-wise, and now look at him. He wasn't able to make 160 back then. Why he is making 159 now? Look at his body and look at the way he's performing," he continued. "Without doing obviously what I normally do, the whole body composition thing, I can just tell by looking at Brandon that 135 pounds is still there and if he would do it right, he would be a machine, dude. He'd be a very, very dangerous man; he'd be very hard to deal with because his energy level would be different, his strength would be different."
Whether or not Rios takes Ariza up on that offer remains to be seen, however, he may want to give it some serious consideration before being forced to move to a division that he may not be ready for. "He's a great fighter and a great warrior. He just doesn't know the scientific approach to getting ready for a fight. He has a great trainer in Garcia, he just needs to apply the other part," Ariza added.
BE SURE TO CHECK BACK SOON FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH ALEX ARIZA
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