By Alphonso Costello There should be no shame in losing a fight, unless you quit or make up an excuse like breaking your toe. The boxing media will never forgive you for that and will constantly remind you every chance they get. On Saturday night many of us witnessed one of the biggest screw jobs in boxing history. It wasn't the worst, but the cries of corruption are loud … [Read more...]
Brandon Rios, James Kirkland, and the curse of cynical matchmaking
Brandon Rios vs. Richard Abril, James Kirkland vs. Carlos Molina. Boxing has been hit by two controversies, three weeks apart. Both speak to the same issues and spotlight the same questionable areas of the sport-- From the quality of the judging/officiating to the overall aptitude of the fighters. On March 24, Carlos Molina tied up and confused James Kirkland, seemingly … [Read more...]
Really. F-ck you, Boxing; Magno’s Monday Rant
When is a win not a win? When you're not the house fighter and don't have a couple of million dollar fights on the horizon, that's when. Richard Abril was not signed to beat Brandon Rios on Saturday night. He was supposed to lose, lose spectacularly, and pave the way for the real fight on July 14 against PPV co-headliner, Juan Manuel Marquez. And when he showed some … [Read more...]
Marquez decisions Fedchenko, Rios escapes with questionable split decision over Abril on split-site PPV
In the Las Vegas portion of Saturday's split-site pay-per-view, Brandon Rios (30-0-1, 22 KOs) took a controversial twelve round split decision over a tougher-than-expected Richard Abril (17-3-1, 8 KOs). There really should have been no suspense waiting for the scorecard after the twelfth round. Abril wasn't going to get the decision in a fight like this. The hardest foe to … [Read more...]
Brandon Rios and Richard Abril vie for a WBA lightweight belt
Former lightweight titlist Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios (29-0-1, 22 KOs) and an over-matched Richard Abril (17-2-1, 8 KOs) will face off for the one of the WBA’s lightweight titles on Saturday, April 14 at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino and will be the co-feature to the main event featuring Juan Manuel Marquez versus Serhiy Fedchenko. The much-documented press tour for the … [Read more...]