Brandon ?Bam Bam? Rios won a foul-filled mess of fight against Diego Chaves by disqualification at 1:26 of round nine?
Saturday night at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, Nevada, former WBA lightweight champion Brandon ?Bam Bam? Rios (32-2-1, 23 KOs), from Oxnard, California, won a foul-plagued mess of fight against Diego Chaves (23-2, 19 KOs), from San Miguel, Buenos Aires, Argentina, by disqualification at 1:26 of round nine.
The fighters went at it tooth and nail at the opening bell and never let up. A quintessential phone booth fight, neither fight gave an inch as they took turns delivering and eating punches.
It was vintage Brandon Rios. He fought his way inside, where he could do the most damage, seemingly oblivious to punishment and pain. Chaves fought a more nuanced fight, if the word nuanced has any place describing a rule-shattering event like this. The Argentinean needed to box and occasionally did just that. But Bam Bam wanted to rumble?and Chaves, no less macho than Rios, was happy to oblige, perhaps to fault.
However do-or-die the action, however bad the blood between the two fighters, it was exciting as hell while it lasted.
The referee, Vic Drakulich, deducted a point from Chaves for holding in round three. He deducted a point from Rios in the fifth for throwing Chaves to the canvas. Chaves was deducted another point in round eight for shoving his glove in Bam Bam?s? face during a break.
As unhappy as the fighters were with each other, they were no less happy with Vic Drakulich.
Rios first complained about being thumbed in the sixth round. Chaves also complained. Both men?s corner complained as well.
?Every time he had me in a headlock,? said Rios after the bout, ?he was grabbing my eye. He was holding me. What could I do? This is not the way I wanted to win. I?m not happy with the way it went.?
At the time of the stoppage, Chaves was ahead on two of the three scorecards.
In his dressing room, Rios felt dizzy and nauseous. He was sent to a local hospital for observation.
