Brandon Rios is looking to bounce back from losses to Mike Alvarado and Manny Pacquiao. He’s scheduled to fight Diego Chaves (23-1, 19 KOs) on Saturday but a problem with Chaves’ Visa may cause Rios to find a new challenger.
“The issue is not with Chaves but it’s with a worldwide f-up with the state department with their computer going down. There’s backlog now of three quarters of a million visas that they can’t get their website working to process and for these visas to be released. There are hundreds of thousands people in China waiting for their tourist visas and it’s a mess. So we’re giving it until (Tuesday) to see if there’s a change. Now, if Chaves can get his visa by tomorrow, then we’re okay. But if not, we’re going to substitute this kid who is on the card and this Mexican kid, Zepeda will take his spot.”
Jose Zepeda (19-0, 16 KOs) is a decent fighter but he is young and inexperienced in these situations. Also the lack of a true training camp would make it hard pressed to beat a fighter the caliber of Rios. Still the fight must go on and if Chaves isn’t cleared by tomorrow night there will be a change in opponent.