Brandon Rios stopped Urbano Antillon with 11 seconds left in the third round to retain his WBA lightweight title in dramatic fashion on Saturday night.
After two rounds of toe-to-toe slugging, Rios (28-0-1, 20 KOs) knocked down Antillon twice in the third round. Rios landed a left hook for the first knockdown and an overhand right hand moments later sent Antillon face-first into the canvas.
Antillon got back up, but referee David Mendoza stopped the bout when Antillon (28-3) staggered toward his corner moments later.
Photo: Reuters
Rios jumped onto the ropes to celebrate the biggest victory for the relentless brawler who could be a future opponent for Manny Pacquiao.
Rios and Antillon have traded verbal jabs for the past several months since their fight initially was announced and postponed, with the usual pre-fight antics growing into anger.
Antillon infuriated Rios with playful comments about Rios’ wife, whose calming influence has contributed to Rios’ rise from a troublemaking, jail-frequenting prospect into a lightweight champion.
“I took my anger toward him into the ring,” Rios said. “I thought he might make it into the later rounds, but he didn’t.”
The fight was action-packed from the opening minute, with both fighters landing huge shots in the first round. The quick start surprised nobody, since both boxers have little interest in defense to go with their mutual dislike.
Antillon landed a majority of the big shots in the first round, but Rios did increasing damage in the second round, before taking control in the third with that left hook to the top of Antillon’s head.
Promoter Bob Arum said Rios could fight veteran Mexican champion Marco Antonio Barrera in his next bout. Rios named his son after Barrera, who attended the fight as an announcer.
RAMOS V SHIMODA
AFP, ATLANTIC CITY, NEW JERSEY
Unbeaten American Rico Ramos knocked out Japan’s Akifumi Shimoda in the seventh round on Saturday to win the WBA super bantamweight crown.
Ramos flattened the 26-year-old southpaw from Sapporo with one punch, a powerful left hook to the jaw that sent Shimoda to the canvas.
Shimoda tried to rise and at the count of nine found his feet only to wobble and stagger sideways and stumble down to the mat again on his back as referee Benjy Esteves counted him out after 2 minutes, 46 seconds of round seven.
“I can’t believe it,” Ramos said. “I didn’t think the hook was going to land. I didn’t think I was going to knock him out.”
Ramos improved to 20-0 with his 11th knockout, while Shimoda fell to 23-3 with one drawn, failing in his bid to be the first Japanese world champion to defend his crown at a US venue by losing for only the second time in 14 fights.
Shimoda, making his first defense of a title he captured in January with a unanimous 12-round decision in Tokyo over Japan’s Ryol Li Lee, controlled the pace of the fight in the opening rounds.
The Japanese fighter was aggressive and used his left hand to the body to initiate exchanges and score with combinations.
However, when the fighters’ heads came together in the fifth round, a cut opened above the right eye of Ramos, making him worry that the fight might be stopped early and forcing him to become more aggressive.
Ramos pressed the attack and took advantage of his first opening to win the crown.
BUTE V MENDY
AP, BUCHAREST, ROMANIA
Canada’s Lucian Bute retained his IBF super middleweight title by knocking out France’s Jean-Paul Mendy in the fourth round at the Romexpo on Saturday.
Romanian-born Bute’s left jab to Mendy’s chin sent him flying face down to the canvas to be counted out by referee Marlon Wright.
Bute (29-0) dominated the fight between the southpaws and finished it at 2 minutes, 48 seconds in the fourth. It was the first loss for Mendy (29-1-1).
It was Bute’s eighth defense of the title he won in 2007. It was the first time Bute had boxed in Romania since 2005.
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