Lightweight sensation Brandon Rios could very well benefit from the words spoken by the late, great Angelo Dundee in Sugar Ray Leonard?s corner during Leonard?s epic first encounter with Tommy Hearns more than three decades ago. Leonard and Hearns were in the midst of a welterweight title-unification bout. Leonard took an early lead, but Hearns was outboxing him and caught up with him in the late rounds.
That?s when Dundee told Ray: ?You?re blowin? it, son.?
In response, Leonard stepped up his pace and stopped Hearns in the 14th round ? a round that no longer exists in this age of 12-round title fights.
Somebody needs to tell Rios that he?s blowin? it. Sure, Brandon came out on the winning end of a split decision against Richard Abril on Saturday. But the judges? verdict was disputed ? so much so that it is a front-runner for the 2012 ?Robbery of the Year? award. Adelaide Byrd scored the bout 117-111 in favor of Abril. Jerry Roth called it 116-112, and Glen Trowbridge tabbed it 115-113, both for Rios.
Ordinarily, a card as divergent as Byrd?s is considered to be the guilty party in a controversial decision. On this occasion, though, most observers believe that Byrd was the one who got it right, while the other two judges were watching a different fight. Abril didn?t hurt Rios, but he outboxed his hard-hitting foe. In scoring a fight, effective defense should count for more in judges? eyes than ineffective aggression, which should count for nothing unless the other fighter is simply holding and running rather than accurately counterpunching. Rios?s aggression was not effective, and Abril did more than merely clutch and sprint.
Last year was a great one for Rios. This year ? not so much so far. Rios lost his WBA lightweight title on the scales in December, but still scored a stirring victory over opponent John Murray. That was enough to prompt me to name Rios as the rising boxer of 2011. But it?s 2012 now, and the only thing that?s rising is Rios?s weight.
Abril held the ?interim? (don?t ask) version of the title vacated when Rios didn?t make weight for his defense against Murray. Rios was supposed to be fighting to get his title back. But again, he weighed in over the 135-lb limit, meaning that if he beat Abril, he would still be without a belt.
Given those conditions, Rios was probably not in the best of mind-sets leading up to and during the fight. But it?s the mind-sets of Judges Roth and Trowbridge that are in question here. Rios simply didn?t get the job done. He needs to move up to junior-welterweight now. If he doesn?t ? he?s blowin? it.
Not only could young Brandon have learned a lesson from Dundee; he could also have picked up some pointers from Juan Manuel Marquez, who fought on the same card. The 38-year-old Marquez, who holds the lineal lightweight title, was moving up in weight to contest the WBO ?interim? (please don?t ask!) junior-welterweight title with Sergei Fedchenko. At 31, Fedchenko was a useful ? if not youthful ? opponent for the Mexican legend. With a strong chin, good skills and paltry punching power, Fedchenko could have made Marquez look as bad as Rios did against Abril. Knowing that a knockout win was unlikely, Marquez simply made the necessary adjustments and won an easy ? and undisputed ? decision.
Rios had better make some adjustments, too ? not only on the scales, but in the ring. His bandwagon hit a bump on Saturday, but it?s still rolling. I?m not ready to jump off it just yet. Another bump, though, and I might fall off if I don?t jump off.
