Brandon "Bam Bam" Rios
- Age: 25
- Hometown: Oxnard, California
- Height: 5'8"
- Reach: 68"
- Stance: Orthodox
- Record: 27-0-1 (20 KOs)
- Ranking: #1 Ranked Lightweight
- Titles: WBA Lightweight
- Age: 28
- Hometown: Maywood, California
- Height: 5'7"
- Reach: 71"
- Stance: Orthodox
- Record: 28-2 (20 KOs)
- Ranking: #8 Ranked Lightweight
- Titles: None
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| Urbano Antillon (right) loses a decision to Humberto Soto (left), but gains the respect of the boxing world. |
Urbano Antillon is a tough veteran who has fought some of the best, but has come up short when a title is on the line. His first loss came to former titlist Miguel Acosta (28-4-2), where he lost via TKO. He then went on to eventually fight another Lightweight title-holder in Humberto Soto (56-7-2) in what some called one of the best fights of the decade. Although Antillon lost this fight it immediatley seemed to put him on the map with casual fans, and led to an immediate rematch with Soto. Due to promotional issues however, the fight was called off and instead we were given another great match-up come Saturday Night. As a boxer Antillon is not the most skilled, but he makes up for the lack of skill with overall toughness and heart. This is what has led him to success in that he is able to grind down opponents, and then capitalize once he has them exhausted. I have no doubt he will try to impose that same style this time around even more-so because of the trash talking that has come from the two fighters.
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| Brandon Rios (left) as he pounds out Miguel Acosta (right) en- route to a knockout win and lightweight title. |
Brandon Rios is a crude, obnoxious, and crass individual along with being one of the most talented prospects of our generation. At the start of his career he lacked any kind of dedication in the gym, and was thought of as a kid who was just lucky and was wasting his talents. He turned that all around though once he joined trainer Robert Garcia's gym, and since then has been sky-rocketing through the lightweight rankings. Like Antillon, Rios is not the most skilled boxer. He is even noted as saying, "I don't know shit about boxing. I just fight." ,at a recent press conference. What has led to Rios' in-ring success is his overwhelming pressure style. He lacks any kind of one punch knockout power, but he constantly moves forward while throwing looping shots to his opponent's heads. His constant moving forward has also led him to problems in some fights, most recently in his last outing against Miguel Acosta. Early in that fight Acosta was landing almost every jab to the point where Rios seemed wobbled early in the fourth. Acosta however couldn't hold the pace, and Rios was able to overcome the early round deficit and knock Acosta out to win his title. This fight acted as a testament to the fact that Rios is the type of fighter who won't go away until he is put away.
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| Brandon Rios (135 lbs) and Urbano Antillon (134.5 lbs) at Friday's weigh-in. |
As mentioned earlier the fans are the real winners with a match-up like this. With the styles these two fighters bring it will be a fun brawl to watch from bell to bell. I see the early rounds being close with Antillon proving tougher then Rios expected. However, I eventually see Antillon fading after the 5th roud and Rios then imposing his usual gameplan. After a great back-and-forth in the 6th or 7th round Rios will score a knockdown, and eventually earn a stoppage win over Antillon late in the 8th round. Rios will cement his position and number one ranking as well as becoming one step closer to building his growing legacy.
Quick Picks
Kermit Cintron over Carlos Molina
This fight won't be the most exciting, but it will act as showcase that Cintron's last performance against Paul Williams (39-2-0) was a fluke. It will seem close early on, but Cintron will cruise by the middle rounds winning a Majority Decision and most likely earning a rematch with Williams.
