Brandon Rios vs Urbano Antillon - Complete Fight (In 2 Parts)

Part 1

Part 2

Videos Courtesy of nahblud on Vimeo.

Recap: Brandon Rios vs. Urbano Antillon - SHOWTIME Boxing

Brandon Rios KO's Urbano Antillon, Paul Wlliams Loses to Erislandy Lara but gets the "Win"

Chris Farina/Top Rank

By Randy De La O

Kudos to Showtime. Saturday night's fight at the Home Depot Center between WBA Lightweight Champion Brandon Rios and Challenger Urbano Antillon represented everything that is good about boxing; good matchmaking, a real rivalry, two likable opponents, great action -while it lasted - and a definitive, no-nonsense and indisputable win, a spectacular third round knockout of Antillon by Rios. It just doesn't get any better than this. Both fighters had an old school persona about them. Neither guy is afraid to mix it up, both can punch and both can take it. Last night though, Rios just took it better.

Going into the third round, it was still a close fight and living up to everyone's expectations, until Rios landed a right hand that put Antillon on the canvas. He did it again a little later in the round. Antillon got up and was about to resume fighting, until he started to stagger across the ring, prompting referee David Mendoza to halt the fight at 2:49 of the third round.

It's hard not to like a guy like Rios. He never stops fighting but he does get hit a lot. I hope he tightens up his defense, even a little bit. Guys like Rios never come out of the fight game undamaged over the long haul. I don't really expect Rios to fight any other way. It's not in his nature to fight any other way. Rios is my kind of fighter.

Congrats to Carlos Molina on his upset of Kermit Cintron last night. It was his will to win and his big heart that won the fight for him.

Photo: Emily Harney

If the Rios vs Antillon fight showed the best side of boxing, than the Paul Williams vs Erislandy Lara fight, at the Boardwalk Hall in New Jersey, showed the worst side. Not so much the fight itself, which, while not spectacular and certainly anti-climatic after watching the Rios vs Antillon fight, was at least a good performance by Lara, who dominated Williams for most of the fight. What was bad, and bad for boxing was the judging. In a fight that was clearly and indisputably won by Lara, the judges awarded the fight to Williams. The judges should be called to the carpet for this fight and than tarred and feathered. Judge Al Bennett had the fight even at 114-114, Judge: Hilton Whitaker III had it115-114 in favor of Williams and Judge: Donald Givens had it116-114 for Williams. .

Williams had absolutely no answer for Lara's left hand. Lara, a southpaw, almost couldn't miss. Kudos to the HBO broadcasting team of Max Kellerman, Bob Papa and Roy Jones Jr. for making it clear that Lara was the real winner of the fight. I don't expect Williams to give Lara a rematch but overall I don't think the "loss" will hurt Lara's career.

Credits:
Brandon Rios vs Urbano Antillon photo courtesy of ESPN
Paul Williams vs Erislandy Lara photo courtesy of Fightnews.com

Weigh-In: Brandon Rios vs Urbano Antillon

Brandon Rios vs Urbano Antillon

By Randy De La O

To borrow a phrase from Mark Twain - sort of - "Rumors of boxing's death are greatly exaggerated". If you don't believe me, just take a look at the talent laden lightweight division. The current Ring ratings have Juan Manuel Marquez as their champion, and rightly so, following in the number one position is Brandon Rios, who also happens to be the WBA Lightweight Champion, and one of boxing's newest and most exciting young fighter. Number two and three in the rankings Humberto Soto (WBC Champion) and Robert Guerrero, followed by John Murray, Michael Katsidis, Miguel Acosta, Paulus Moses, Urbano Antillon, Miguel Vazquez and Antonio De Marco. If that isn't enough, the next division above are the the Super Lightweights/Junior Welterweights (take your pick) with guys like Timothy Bradley, Marcos Maidana, Amir Khan and Eric Morales ready to face any of the lightweights should they decide to move up.

After Eric Morales' outstanding performance against Marcos Maidana, earning a draw that many felt should have been a win for Morales, a fight between Juan Manuel Marquez and Morales suddenly seems like a great match up. Of the great Mexican trio of champions, Marquez, Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera, only Marquez and Morales have yet to face each other. Maybe it'll happen yet.

Urbano Antillon

Urbano Antillon will challenge Brandon Rios this Saturday at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California for Rios' WBA Lightweight title. Antillon has failed in two attempts at the title, getting stopped in the 9th round by Miguel Acosta in July of 2009 in Mexico, and most recently, in his last fight with Humberto Soto, losing a hard fought unanimous decision. Antillon 28 years old, is from Mexico but now lives Maywood, California. He's won 28 of his 30 fights and is an exciting and forward moving fighter that fights his way inside and knows how to work the body. He's not afraid to mix it up. The two failed attempts for a title will be spurring him on tomorrow night. He'll be motivated.

Brandon Rios

Brandon Rios has become one of my favorite fighters. He's a little cocky, but in a good way, a little bit of a bad boy, but again, in a good way. He has a likable personality. More than anything though, He likes to fight. He's not perfect and sometimes guys that like to fight the way Rios does don't last long. I'm hoping he does. He's good for boxing. Rios is undefeated in 28 bouts, the lone blemish is a draw with Manuel Perez in 2008. Rios stopped Perez in the rematch a year later, in the 7th round of a scheduled 10 round bout.

Saturday's fight has the potential to be a fight of the year, if it lives up to the expectations. These two guys honestly don't like each other.  I like both of these guys but my gut says Brandon keeps his title, maybe by knockout. However, as always, may the best man win! The fight will be shown on Showtime. Their weight for Saturday night: Brandon Rios 135 - Urbano Antillon 134.75

Andre Ward Defeats Arthur Abraham

Photos Courtesy of Showtime Boxing

By Randy De La O

Andre Ward is starting to grow on me. I haven't exactly been a real big fan of the Super Six Super Middleweight Tournament but Ward has been catching my interest. His wins over Alan Greene and Sakio Bika last year, and then this past weekend's big win against Arthur Abraham has him breaking away from the pack. He will be facing the winner of Carl Froch vs Glen Johnson, who will be fighting June 4, 2011. The fight took place at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, just minutes from Downtown Los Angeles. The fight was shown on Showtime Boxing.

Abraham came out aggressively, with a "Peek-A-Boo" style defense and seemed to be getting off to a good start. Ward seemed unable to penetrate Abraham's tight defense, still he kept pumping the jab, while trying to figure out a way in. In the fourth round Ward found his range and with the uppercut and body shots started to get inside Abraham's defense. Once he was in, Ward took control of the fight and gave what has to be the best performance of his career, alternately slugging and boxing, and fighting southpaw at times, and doing all of it welll. It was a championship perrformance by Ward, who seems to be improving and gaining confidence with every fight. Abraham for his part, never stopped trying. He just could not keep up with Ward. By the middle rounds Abraham was tired and frustrated and it showed. Ward won by 12 round decision.

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Mosley vs Mayorga

Below is the fight between Sugar Shane Mosley and Ricardo Mayorga, September 27, 2008 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California in it's entirety.

mosley vs mayorga

Sugar Shane Mosley KO's Ricardo Mayorga in the Twelfth Round

Shane Mosley looks down at Ricardo Mayorga of Nicaragua for the first knockdown of the 12th round during their junior middleweight boxing bout in Carson, California September 27, 2008. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok (UNITED STATES)

Reuters

By Randy De La O

On the surface, last night's fight between Sugar Shane Mosley and Ricardo Mayorga was a good fight, albeit not a great one. Mosley fought through his own frustrations and Mayorga's awkward free swinging style to stop Mayorga in the final seconds of the twelfth round. The ending came when Mosley knocked down Mayorga with a several punch combination. Mayorga, on shaky legs, was up before the count ended. Mosley moved in with a short, quick left hook to end the fight. In between there was a lot of frustration by Mosley, as he struggled to find his rhythm, and working past Mayorga's constant complaining. Referee David Mendoza had his work cut out for him.

Underneath the surface of the fight loomed the real problem with Mosley's performance. Mosley struggled much too hard against a fighter who is not in the same class as he is. It was clear to those that have followed Sugar Shane Mosley's career over the years that this was not the Mosley of old. Though still quick, his reactions and reflexes have slowed down considerably. He took more shots throughout the fight than he should have. The downside to Mosley's victory is his now confirmed belief that he is back in top form and ready to fight Antonio Margarito and/or Paul Williams for a title. I can't imagine anyone in his camp truly believes he can win those fights. Another thing to consider is Mosley's drawing power. Even at his peak, and especially after his wins over Oscar De La Hoya, he was never really able to pack them in, surprising considering that he is a charasmatic and popular fighter. The Home depot Center looked about 65% filled last night. What's the point now? My hope is that the powers that be in boxing, the people that care for him, and his family will convince Shane that he should retire. He has had a great career. He deserves to retire with his health. He's too good a man and too great a fighter to become a stepping stone for a younger generaton of fighters.