Moments ago at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, Brandon Rios captured the biggest victory of his career in stopping Venezuela’s Miguel Acosta to secure the WBA lightweight crown.
In the first round you could tell instantly the type of fight that Rios was trying make as he applied steady pressure. Acosta, having a little bit of an edge in range on his younger foe, attempted to box from the outside while he picked Rios apart. For the first two rounds it appeared that Rios’ aggression was going to be a bit too much for his Venezuelan foe.
In the third and fourth rounds Acosta made a stand for himself and began timing Rios coming in. Right hands were the specialty as he began landing at will and was visibly staggering Rios, whose lack of defense was beginning to haunt him. The tide of the fight was changing and Rios appeared to be in trouble.
But this is when we saw the best of Brandon Rios. In the 5th round he put all of his chips on the table and went at Acosta recklessly, turning the tide of the fight second by second and inch by inch. Acosta seemed to lack the snap on his punches and was beginning to fade. In the 6th round Rios scored a knockdown with with a crushing right hand as Acosta fell to the canvas.
Acosta showed much grit in surviving the round and tried boxing from long range but Rios was like a rabid dog and wouldn’t be denied at this point. Rios scored another knockdown in the eighth and finished off his retreating foe in the tenth round, dropping for a third time as the champion’s father held his son to the canvas in order to stop the punishment. Rios was lifted in the air by his team, including trainer Robert Garcia and his friend Fernando Vargas.
Rios now can call himself a world champion and figures to give anyone at 135 trouble. His two biggest threats at this point appear to be WBC champion Humberto Soto and living legend Juan Manuel Marquez.
Chris Robinson is based out of Las Vegas, Nevada. He can be reached at [email protected]
