WBA lightweight titleholder Brandon Rios could return to the ring on Showtime potentially against Kevin Mitchell on Dec. 10, Rios trainer, Robert Garcia, told RingTV.com.

“There’s no official name,” said Garcia, “but I was told that they’re looking at having that guy, Kevin Mitchell.”

Rios (28-0-1, 21 knockouts), THE RING’s No. 1-rated lightweight, is coming off of third-round knockout of Urbano Antillon in July.

Mitchell (32-1, 24 KOs), THE RING’s No. 4-rated contender, is coming off of last month’s eighth-round knockout of previously unbeaten English countryman John Murray (31-1, 18 KOs), which helped Mitchell to rebound from a third-round knockout loss to Michael Katsidis in May.

“[Rios’ manager] Cameron Dunkin has told me that Showtime has already agreed to Dec. 10, but no opponent. He said that he would like to do it here in Southern California, maybe in Los Angeles, or, maybe in Las Vegas,” said Garcia.

“Nothing’s for sure, but that’s what it looks like. Cameron was going to try to talk to Top Rank today to see if it’s a sure thing, but that his understanding was that it was going to be on Dec. 10.”

Top Rank Promotions Inc. CEO Bob Arum told RingTV.com that there still is a chance that Rios could fight on the under card of the clash featuring WBA junior middleweight titleholder Miguel Cotto and ex-beltholder Antonio Margarito on Dec. 3 at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

Cotto-Margarito is being considered for HBO or Showtime Pay Per View distribution.

Lem Satterfield can be reached at [email protected]