Brandon "Bam Bam" Rios (32-2-1 22 KOs) won in a disappointing and controversial disqualification versus Diego Chaves (23-2 19 KOs) in a welterweight slugfest at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas.

The fight was rough from the onset, but exciting and competitive. The DQ seemed a bit over officious, in this writer's opinion.

When we last saw Rios, he was on the wrong end of a one-sided dismantling at the hands of superstar Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao. This was not exactly the result that he needed to put him back on the map.

Chaves seemed to be more an opponent to his liking, in both skill and style, than "Pacman." Both men came straight forward unloading the leather to the body and head from the start. In a very even fight, the exchanges were often, but prolific and brutal.

The Argentinean Chaves, whose lone defeat coming into tonight was a KO loss was to big time prospect Keith Thurman, was very game. In the third round he was deducted his 1st point for holding, but like his counterpart Rios, he mostly stayed busy on the inside with clean, hard punches.

Referee Vic Drakulich later evened the score in penalties when he deducted a point from "Bam Bam" for discarding Chaves with a hard shoulder in Round 4. The shenanigans continued when yet another point was taken from Chaves four rounds later for thumbing Rios. Both men exchanged head butts on a few occasions as well. In Round 9, in another heated exchange, where both men appeared to be holding, Chaves pushed Rios' head. Drakulich had seen enough and halted the bout.

Unfortunately this took some of the luster away from an extremely competitive fight. Through 7 rounds, both men had amazingly landed 126 punches apiece according to Compubox.

Where Rios goes from here is anyone's guess. He is a very exciting and tough fighter, but seems a notch below the elite at 147 pounds.

In the main undercard, light heavyweight champion and knockout artist Sergey "The Crusher" Kovalev (25-0-1 23 KOs) continued his impressive rise to superstardom with a 2nd round TKO versus previously unbeaten Australian Blake Caparello (19-1-1 6 KOs) at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

Caparello shocked pundits and onlookers alike in Round 1 by putting the Russian slugger down with a nice straight left hand. The shot seemed to knock Kovalev more off balance than seriously hurt him. It certainly also woke him up.

In Round 2, Kovalev got the damage going with a perfect left to the solar plexus that put Caparello on his knees. From there, the floodgates opened and "The Crusher" lived up to his nickname by putting away his man with a two fisted attack that led to two more knockdowns and forced the stoppage.

Kovalev landed 26 of 50 punches overall to score his 9th straight KO.

But perhaps the bigger headliner than the fight itself was when HBO reported pre-fight that Kovalev had signed a contract to fight against ageless and legendary 49 year old Light Heavyweight Champion Bernard Hopkins in November (TBA). The contract of was contingent upon "The Crusher" leaving the ring with his portion of the title in tact. 

He, of course, did not disappoint.

With the exception of Gennady "GGG" Golovkin, no fighter in Boxing right now is more exciting and efficient at knocking opponents out than Kovalev. And while his next fight promises to be more of a challenge, he is quickly becoming "must see" TV for hardcore and casual boxing fans alike.

November's fight versus Hopkins could be one of the better fights of 2014 and could cement Kovalev as a star in the sport. Stay tuned fight fans.