Undefeated World Boxing Association (WBA) lightweight champion Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios retained his world title Saturday night with a devastating offensive onslaught, recording a third-round stoppage over Urbano Antillon at The Home Depot Center on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING.
In the co-feature, Carlos Molina (19-4-2, 6 KOs) outworked former IBF welterweight world champion Kermit Cintron (32-4-1, 28 KOs), who was fighting for the first time in 16 months, in a 10-round junior middleweight clash in what many considered an upset, identical on all three cards, 98-92.
But it was Rios (28-0-1, 20 KOs) of Oxnard, Calif. who stole the show in a SoCal neighborhood war over Antillon (28-3, 20 KOs) of Maywood, Calif., just six miles down the road from Carson. With the crowd on its feet the entire fight chanting loudly for their favorite fighter, both Rios and Antillon came out swinging in a toe-to-toe battle that ended when referee David Mendoza stopped the bout when Antillon stumbled toward his corner at 2:49 in the third round.
Rios vs. Antillon Photos
Rios knocked Antillon down with a devastating left hook for the first of two knockdowns at the start of the third round. It was a shot Antillon would never recover from. Moments later he added an overhand right hand that that sent him to the floor face first.
“We knew going in that whoever could take the best punch would win,” Rios said afterward. “Tonight I was faster and tougher for the couple of rounds we had. I had power in both hands.”
Antillon said he was never able to recover from the first knockdown. “That left hook caught me on the top of the head and it devastated me,” he said. “I was never the same after the first knock down. Rios punches very hard. I just got caught and I was never able to recover.”
SHOWTIME expert commentator Al Bernstein was duly impressed with Rios and the power his punches packed. “When you punch like that and when you have a chin like Rios does, it’s going to be very hard to beat this man,” he said during the telecast.
Rios is ready for anyone his promoter Bob Arum puts in front of him next. “We watched tape and saw the mistakes he’s made over his last few fights and capitalized,” he said. “I took my anger for him into the ring. I thought he might make it into the later rounds but he didn’t. I’ll fight anybody at 135 — Marco Antonio Barrera or any of the big names. “
Molina, of Michoacán, México, used an array of jabs and body shots to outwork Cintron, of Carolina, Puerto Rico, in his dominating victory.
“I was never hurt, thank God,” Molina said. “I was prepared and ready. I didn’t think about [Cintron’s] ring rust. I’ve had to deal with two years of ring rust in my career. You still have to prepare to fight.”
Said Cintron: “It was a tough fight. I’ve had a lot of them. It is what it is.”
His trainer, the legendary Ronnie Shields said there were “no excuses.” “He couldn’t get off. I asked for more punches but they never came.”
Opening up the telecast on Saturday, SHOWTIME fans got to see Romanian-born Lucian Bute (29-0) of Montreal, Canada, retain his IBF super middleweight title by knocking out Jean-Paul Mendy (29-1-1) of France in the fourth round at the Romexpo in Bucharest, Romania. It was a left by Bute that led to the knockout where the Frenchman was counted out by referee Marlon Wright at 2:48 in the fourth round. It was Bute’s eighth defense of the title he won in 2007, but the first time he fought in Romania since 2005.
