Take a walk in the shoes of lightweight world title holder Brandon Rios.

You were overwhelmed with emotion when the world title belt was wrapped around your waist at the Palms Hotel and Casino on the night of February 26th, when you stopped Miguel Acosta in the 10th round.

You have teenage and amateur fighters who look up to you at the Robert Garcia Boxing Academy in South Oxnard, where you train. Fight fans ask for an autograph or a picture in Southern California or abroad.

However, you are not one to bite your tongue or watch what you say, which could get you into trouble with other fighters or people.

Five to six years ago, as talented as you were, you spent more time on the streets and temporarily incarcerated than at the La Colonia Boxing Club in Oxnard.

Now, you will step inside the ring against a formidable, strong foe in Urbano Antillon on Saturday night at the Home Depot Center in Carson. The fight will be shown on SHOWTIME.

It has been a bumpy, but successful ride for Rios (27-0-1, 19 KOs). He has a world title belt, a solid trainer in Robert Garcia, one of the best managers in Cameron Dunkin, and the backing of one of the best promoters in boxing in Bob Arum.

Still, he wants more and he could solidify his standing as the top lightweight in the world with a decisive victory over Antillon on Saturday night.

It may be easier said than done as Antillon, who was originally scheduled to take on Humberto Soto earlier this year in a rematch from their fight of the year bout in December, is a fighter who will not back down from a challenge.

As if Rios may not have had an incentive to get up for the bout against Antillon, a press conference meeting between the two less than two months ago brought out bad blood between the two. Whoever is to blame as to who started the smack talk, both fighters directed comments towards one another. Antillon made certain comments about Rios’ wife as well as Rios mocking the manner in which Antillon speaks.

In fact, Rios had no beef with Antillon before the fight was made earlier this year.

“I never knew him,” Rios told Fightnews.com before a recent sparring session at Garcia’s gym in south Oxnard. “I never talked to him. Never had a conversation with him. He made it personal. He was saying that I was scared of him. That I pretended to get cut when the fight was originally made a while back. But then he had to bring my wife into the mix. To me, it’s like I don’t talk about your family, don’t talk about mine.”

As the fight date nears, the trash talking has subsided. Both fighters have gotten their sparring, training, and conditioning in, while keeping the dialogue to a “PG” rating.

As unpredictable as Rios could be out of the ring with his behavior, he was uncharacteristically “respectful” to Antillon and what he could bring into the ring on Saturday night.

“To me, Urbano is a hell of a fighter,” said Rios, who looks to Julio Cesar Chavez as one of his heroes. “He’s been in a lot of wars. He’s a great warrior and he gets stronger in the later rounds. It could be a factor as I don’t start as fast.”

“But, Urbano is not as good as me. I know that he’s going to be right there. We don’t have to chase him and it’s the type of fight that Robert has got me ready for. I think that I’ll have him out by the 10th round. Either I’ll have him out on his feet or the referee will stop the fight.”

Rios is making the most of his second chance in boxing. Although his professional career began seven years ago, the 25 year old was not making wise choices outside the ring.

Rios had brushes with the law and spent some time in jail. There were those close to him who might have had thoughts about giving up on Rios because it had seemed that he was not taking boxing seriously.

Now that he is the father of two and recently married, Rios has wised up and has learned from his mistakes. Almost every afternoon, Rios is in the gym training or teaching a few of the younger fighters at the gym the fine art of the sweet science.

“It was hard when I started out because I was in and out of jail. My career as a pro was questionable. Back then, I was a punk and not a good kid. But I’ve matured and grown up. My mindset was to be a world champ and I proved it to everyone. I’m just grateful that there is a bond between Robert and me. That I have my wife in my career and my life.”

Although Soto was recognized as the number one lightweight in the world, he recently announced that he was moving up in weight.

Soto was scheduled to take on Brandon Rios after his fight against Antillon in December. However, Soto needed some time to recuperate from his brutal 12 round victory over Antillon. Although Rios never got that shot against Soto, he was not planning on waiting for him. It worked out in favor for Soto that a fight with the popular Mexican was not made, as the fight with Acosta was made.

With fighters moving up from 135 pounds, do not be surprised to see Rios make that move as well.

“I was calling out Soto for a long time. I don’t know if he was scared of me or was looking for an easy payday. After this fight, maybe we’re planning for another fight at 135 pounds, then challenging those guys at 140.”

Eyeing a possible bout with Marco Antonio Barrera after the Antillon fight, Rios has done well since hitting bottom years ago. He won a world title belt and is eager to fight the best boxers out there.

Although his antics outside of the ring have inadvertently brought him bad press, especially the Youtube video of him mocking trainer Freddie Roach last year, Rios is attempting to draw attention for his accomplishments inside of the ring.

He hopes that Saturday night will be the beginning of great things to come in his career.

“It feels good to follow the footsteps of Robert and Fernando Vargas. Everyone knows that Oxnard is the boxing capital of the world. It’s my turn, but I hope that the other (younger) guys in the gym take over when I retire. It would be an honor to be in that position.”

“My motivation is to be the best, title or no title. I just want to be one of the best, not only in the lightweight division, but in the world today.”