Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada– Brandon Rios (27-0-1, 20 KOs) continued on his climb up the ranks of the tough lightweight division with a triumphant TKO 10 victory over Venezuelan WBA belt holder, Miguel Acosta (28-4-2, 22 KOs).
But it wasn’t an easy road to victory for the Robert Garcia-trained Rios.
Acosta came out strong, winning four of the first five rounds by moving and scoring against his aggressive opponent with a flicking jab and a wide, but hard right hook. Acosta even managed to stun Rios at various moments of those first five, but Rios just kept coming forward and Acosta eventually gave in.
Rios would drop Acosta in the sixth with a short left hand at the end of a flurry and, despite a nice comeback round in the seventh, the bout had shifted momentum dramatically.
Acosta would go down again in the eight and would eventually succumb to Rios’ unrelenting pressure in the tenth, crumpled over in his own corner by a brutal Rios right hand.
The Boxing Tribune Story Behind The Story: Rios can now be considered among the top three lightweights in the world, but Humberto Soto has already said that he will only fight one more time, against Urbano Antillon, at 135 and Juan Manuel Marquez, the 37-year old holder of the true WBA lightweight championship is holding out for a major pay day. Expect to see Marquez vacate the WBA strap and Rios to step in as legit WBA title holder soon. Other than the #2 ranked Robert Guerrero, who is with promotional rival, Golden Boy, the rest of the WBA rankings look weak. So, barring Rios eating himself out of 135, he should be a major factor for some time to come.
On the Showtime-televised undercard from Grand Island, Nebraska, lightweight challenger, Antonio DeMarco (25-2-1, 18 KO’s) beat Reyes Sanchez (20-4-1, 11 KOs) via unanimous twelve round decision: 117-111, 116-112, 115-113.
Other Noteworthy Fights over the Weekend:
Friday: (Super featherweight) Juan Carlos Burgos TKO 2 Frankie Archuleta; (Middleweight) Harry Joe Yorgey TKO 5 Donovan Castaneda; (Welterweight) Danny Garcia TKO 2 John Figueroa
Saturday: (WBO Flyweight Title) Julio Cesar Miranda TKO 4 Arden Diale; (WBC Jr. Flyweight Title) Gilberto Keb Baas RTD 8 Jose Antonio Aguirre; (Flyweight) Wilbert Uicab UD 12 Edwin Diaz; (Cruiserweight) Alejandro Berrio TKO 3 Antwun Echols; (Lightweight) Juan Carlos Salgado UD 10 Guadalupe Rosales; (Jr. Middleweight) Gabriel Rosado TKO 12 Jamaal Davis
Leave a Reply