Abril Gets Shafted in Vegas, As Flat Rios Gets SD

Written by Michael Woods

Saturday, 14 April 2012 22:42

riosAbril5 Weight-challenged Brandon Rios, who semi-shocked the boxing world by not making weight for the second straight outing, took on Richard Abril in a lightweight/lightweight plus scrap at the Mandalay Bay in the main support bout to the Marquez-Fedchenko bout in Mexico. From the get-go, Rios lacked snap in this Top Rank production, and if you were waiting for him to get warmed up, and break the man down, and win a war of attrition, you were disappointed. Abril was the crafty Cuban, who boxed smart, from a distance and in close, as Rios followed him to no real avail. The judges, though, discounted what all watching knew, that 135 is not for Rios, and Abril wasn't a smart style matchup for the banger-boxer. They saw it 111-117, 116-112, 115-113, a split decision for Rios, to whom I gave one single round.

Just so you know, Jerry Roth had the worst card, in my opinion, at 116-112 for Rios, Glen Trowbridge saw it somehow 115-113 for Rios, while Adelaide Byrd, God bless her, saw straight, at 117-111 for the real winner, Abril.

Rios entered 29-0-1, while Abril was 17-2-1 coming in. The Cali-based boxer, born in Texas, didn't look weak or drained from the experience in the first overtly. The Cuban-born Abril, based in Florida, held the interim WBA lightweight crown coming in. He looked like he'd try to use a height edge, and keep Rios on the outside, and it worked well, as Rios chased without great success. Rios closed the distance a bit more in the second, making us wonder if Abril could go the distance controlling the distance and tone. In the third, Rios was more warmed up. He landed some body shots and a nice uppercut in his best round. In the fourth, Abril kept moving, and if and when Rios got close, he'd blunt the assault smartly. The two after the lame one was working for Abril in the fifth, another round for the Cuban. Robert Garcia needed to tell Rios to change his game, go to a Plan B after the round, but he wasn't overly demonstrative. In the seventh, Abril kept using his legs when he wanted and needed to, and stayed put and boxed smart when he wanted to. Vic Drakulich warned Abril for the second time for holding at the end of the round. Rios stepped it up in the next round, but he probably needed a KO. Rios was frustrated in the tenth, yelling at the Cuban to fight like a man. He was, but not in the manner Rios does. In the 11th, Rios made Abril work harder, as he pressed him, but he isn't mobile enough to battle Abril's agility. Abril stayed smart to the final bell. We'd go to the cards.

Mike Alvarado (32-0 entering; from Colorado) and Mauricio Herrera (18-1 entering; from California) matched up quite nicely, and engaged in a junior welter tradefest. Alvarado scored the cleaner, harder shots to the midpoint overall, but Herrera didn't fold. He had Alvie backing up in the fifth, but then the table turned midway through the round. Alvie threw combos, when Herrera too often was one and done. Neither man bothered with running, or clinching. They were there to toss bombs, slip some of them, and try to stop the other guy. Herrera's left eye, swollen noticeably, drew doctor's interest after round seven. He was slipping smartly, and rolling with punches, but that eye contradicted. His corner told him to throw more, or they'd stop the bout. Alvie's right eye had a little nick and mouse on it but this point. In the ninth, Herrera was on the defensive more than his corner would like. He showed more energy than anyone could expect in the tenth. We'd go to the cards. Alvie snagged it, by scores of 99-91, 97-93, 96-94.

Comment on this article

amayseng says:

what an absolute disgrace, rios got man handled physically, schooled technically and embarrassed as he looked slow, flat and had nothing to offer himself to barely win 2 rounds, let alone the fight.. how can a professional fighter not know he is drowning his own power, step a fricking step back , get in the pocket and land some punches...

rios looked horrible...abril should have sat down and knocked his assss out....

may the ufc continue to prosper as boxing continues to die. and die it will..

after pac and floyd are gone there will be nothing left. nothing. boxing will fall off the

map.

and rightfully so.

up next, floyd mayweather obliterates and physically shot cotto who has no head movement...

im not buying it, i refuse to give boxing my money

refuse

ali says:

Bob Arum worked his magic again...im not surprised at all.

DaveB says:

Amayseng I feel your pain. I don't know if Rios has the style to beat this guy. I agree with the commentators as I would not grant a rematch. Rios should take his gift decision and walk away. I feel bad for Abril because he deserved to win the fight by a wide margin. This fight was a snoozer and Abril is not a fighter I want to watch again but these type of decisions do a lot to discredit boxing. Boxing has been dying a long death, meaning I've heard this type of thing for a long time i.e. after Ali is gone there are no more stars to carry the sport, as go the heavyweights so goes boxing, but there is always another or more accurately others, to come in and fill the void. After Ali the lighter weights got the attention they deserved, so don't be surprised if boxing fools you once again. Rios lives to fight another day and hopefully he will get a better dance partner, as in a more exciting opponent, and will be better prepared when the opportunity arises. Abril won tonight though, no question about it.

alhmiel says:

Boxing keeps getting shadier each fight. I feel sorry for the fighters who get screwed because they have the lesser name or are not associated with a big name promoter. Boxing has a smell attached to it that never goes away. Fighters like the classless Rios bring boxing down. sad in a way. Wonder if judges are paid off??

alhmiel says:

SouthPaul says:

Boxing isn't dying but it sure ain't evolving like it should've over the years. Some of that being the corrupt stigma. At the very least we have judges who are too comfortable in their appointed positions. Some of these fossils have been around since the late 60's, early 70's. We need a shake up. Someone needs to clean house. Out with the old in with the new blood. Boxing's a business and its time to hire new managers and workers; its time for a restructure of sorts.

SouthPaul says:

Radam G says:

Oh my fudging devil! Well, I don't hate to burst those bubbles, but it was a professional bout, not an amateur one.

I told you muthaguys dat Abril should flip and turn the "b" in his name and make it a "p," because he'd be a late April's Fool joke. Dude ran like Bambi. And the attempted thief in the night did what you guys hate -- HELD! That's right! Da Bambi-movin' muthachump was excessively holding -- not clinching a bit. As I've said in the past, you have a time limit to let go of the opponent at the referee's command in clinching. If you don't let him go in that time limit in the pros, it is called "Holding." In the amateurs, it correctly known as "Stalling."

Abril bitch-held like a leech jumping out of a jungle pool and sucking the arms and torso of a crazed GI. Rios woulda and coulda _____ _____ ____ ____ ____ ____ Abril's a$$, if Abril had cojones to professionally fight. Later for that Cuban-escape syet. [We'll get a chance to see that at the O Games in London come summertime.]

I know that you haters are going to get on yo' hatin!' And dat's all right! I expect for yall to be relatin!' NOT IN THE LEAST BIT! STFU, SCLA Ali! You are always up in the grill of the Bobfather putting all the blame. Holla!

amayseng says:

radam, holding or not, and i hate holding, abril did what the referee allowed him to do..

he had warnings but no point deductions. he was given parameters by the ref and he

fought within them.

he boxed and moved and for long stretches he did not move or hold he stood there

in his shoulder roll D while rios layed on him like a drunk wailing smothering his own

shiiiiity punches which had no effect other than making him look foolish as abril blocked

and slipped them with ease....

rios did nothing, nothing, i mean nothing, radam, explain to me more than 3 rounds

rios won.

you wont find more than that....no way.

like i said when floyd and pac leave boxing will fade out...sure hbo and showtime will

still carry sub par fights like berto , but there will be NO BUZZ, none...

ali says:

SouthPaul great post out with the old in with the new.

ali says:

Triple O.G at the end of the day the ref allowed him to hold and he took advantage of it as he should have. The same thing Mayweather did to Ortiz do different then B-Hop hitting MF on the hip when the the ref is on the opposite side of a clinch. Abril clearly won that fight anybody that knows boxing knows that what's wrong with u Radam do u just want to spark a debate.

SouthPaul says:

Thanks, Ali.

Tell you what, I haven't seen the fight but if I were a judge I could see myself being very annoyed by a lot holding, so much so that I may start finding a way to give the rounds to the other fighter. Maybe that's what is happening here. Lord knows we don't need another Johhny "Hug 'em" Ruiz.

ali says:

SouthPaul your right to a certain degree. Look I hate fighters that do a lot of clinching, holding whatever that's why I've never been a fan of B-Hop. It wasn't like Abril wasn't punching he just did most of it from the outside and when Rios got close then he held. If a judge is giving someone a round just because he was being held a lot then he's not doing his job correctly.

deepwater says:

told you guys b4 the fight.this is how you pick a winner. first look who the promoter has more money invested in. 2nd thats all you need to know.

Radam G says:

Look, DUDES AND DUDETTES! In the pros, you win fights by brick and stick and stone hittin, not slappin,' and holding some much that your arse is nappin!' Abril cleanly lost with that Cuban amateur syet of runnin' and bytch slappin.

I will example it this way about counting punches:

In the amateurs, you must score with the white section of the glove. It doesn't matter if you throw a lot of touch punches with any section of the mutha***** ___ ____ ____ glove.

In the pros, you must by slam-banging, gorilla-beating down a _____ _____ _____ ___. That touch, soft syet ain't worth a hill of beans. Touching the guy the most with byching slaps don't win you a jive turkey in the pros. If you want to soft slap box, take that syet to the streets. Bam Bam put da slam slam on the April-fool joke Cuban HAM HAM! Holla!

amayseng says:

Radam, did u have bhop bearing calzaghe?

I did. And I understand hop countered with legit

Punches while joe slapped and schemed his.

However rios did nothing , nothing to even overcome

winning more than 3 rounds against abrils

"slaps".

Hit and don't be hit is the name of the game.

Who did rios hit because it wasn't Abril

deepwater says:

FOR CHRIST SAKE>>>>>BOXING IS FIXED FOR THE MOST PART>THE PROMOTER SETS THE VENUE<HIRES THE JUDGES AND THE OPPONENT..told you guys b4 the fight.this is how you pick a winner. first look who the promoter has more money invested in. 2nd thats all you need to know.

ali says:

Deepwater hilarious!!!!!......Triple O.G Calzaghe slap the **** out of 46 mothand*ckas and not one of them guys was able to walk away with a victory.

Radam G says:

YUP amayseng! I had my boy Slappy Joe C whuppin' B-Hop's hinny. [SJC is underrated. Muthasuckas are probably lefty hating him. He is one of the pound-for-pound ATGs, IMHO.

Slapping is allowed in professional boxing. Many fighters intentionally throw a swing slap that the faking-da-jive talking heads call a hook. And when the fighters throw a slapping cross, the f-d-j talking heads call it a chopping-type of blow. Ain't nothing wrong with pro slapping as long as you slap dat bytch hard and heavy. The hard and heavy slap punches count in the p game, not that touch-and-tap slap syet.

Money May is a master of the slap jab and kangaroo slap hook. What have you guys been watching? Pro slappin' is straight-up righteous. GOAT Ali was the greatest hook and right-hand slapper in the history of the game. Sugar Ray Leonard left-hook slapped Tommy "The Hitman" Hearns silly in bout I.

One more time. Don't get it twisted, SCLA Ali. Slappin is illegal in the amateurs, but legal in the pros. Holla!

Radam G says:

In my first above post, I should have spitted softy-bytch slappin.... [Hard-and-heavy slappin da bytch out a muthasucka is cool.].... Holla!

ali says:

U said fights r not by slapping...joe calzaghe went undefeated slapping go and read your post again

brownsugar says:

incase any one didn't know what was happening in the ring Saturday.... it's called boxing... in it's purest form. Abril side-stepping, slipping, shoulder-rolling, blocking, parrying, wrapping up Rios and rendering ineffective on the inside...... and basically looking like the only fighter in the ring who was trained in the sweet science. Rios could only lunge at Abril,.. his stength and weight advantage rendered a non-factor by the adroit fighter who stood before him.........Rios couldn't comprehend how to put his hands on Abril in a meaningful way inside of 12 rounds of battle.... Rio was so far out of his league,... if Abril had any real power,.. Rios wouldn't have lasted 8 rounds.

How ignorant Rios was of his adversary.... he didn't even know how to approach Abril,... which angle to punch from... and his footwork is like unto the Plodder class....All Rios could do was follow Abril and making the same repetiously feeble attacks...over and over....

I mentioned before that Rios was a big fish in a small pond... the higher the weight,.. the more decisions he drops and the few KO's he'll get...... I like him though.....because He's still a guts and glory fighter... who will be lucky not to end up like Katsidis when it's time to hang them up... (did'nt he call out Ortiz too ???).

Rios is 100% intertainment against guys who'll stand in front of him... but even David Dias demonstrates more boxing skill. I look forward to seeing Rios again... but better matched against another Gatti-type(RIP) go-for-broke-slugger.... Could you imagine Rios against Bradley, Pac, Khan, Peterson, or even Randal Bailey at 140???? (the horror!!)....

If he was really smart Rios should see if he could borrow some of Arums big bucks and hire Abril as a sparring partner.

brownsugar says:

Abril Fools Day,... good one ESPN.

ali says:

Good post B-Sug...

Radam G says:

Make rematch between Abril and Rios and Rios will kayo him. Believe that! Abril stunk up the place. Holla!

Shoulder Roll Defense says:

B-Sug summed it up eloquently. The bottom line is that Brandon Rios has been exposed! Some of you were laughing when I said a couple of weeks ago that a slick lightweight boxer such as Hank Lundy would give Rios fits because Rios is one dimensional. Well, peep game; Lundy already beat Abril and is faster with more power. "Bam Bam" is going to get exposed at 140 and I don't see him beating top tier fighters at that weight such as Peterson, Khan, Judah, Bradley, Marquez, etc. Adrien Broner could probably go up 10 pounds and "drop him like a bad habit" lol.

Radam G says:

SRD, if a fighter that is brown, you claimed that he got exposed and then get on your clown. If the muthasucka is black, you spit sweet science smack. Trust me! Not a single one of your favorite can Mack. Awesome skills, Broner, Peterson, Judah, Bradley, Dawson and ___ _____ all lack. It is all good, though! Just keep on your spit attack. Because on da real, REAL! It ain't, Bro! They ain't got game. The muthajacks are all weakly da same. Holla!

Shoulder Roll Defense says:

You never get my post totally correct, I didn't mention Chad Dawson in my previous post and I'm not a fan of his. However, I did mention Marquez and Khan, which aren't black fighters. Heck, my boy Paulie Malignaggi would put on a boxing clinic against Rios if he could make the 140 limit again safely. Rios is a typical one dimensional "Mexican Style" boxer, thus he only knows how to fight one way. He plods forward and has very little defense, taking two punches in hopes of firing off one. However, the great fighters that use this style are usually great body punchers and he didn't really work the body against Abril. It isn't about race, but rather skill and style. Rios should take a page from his stable mate Mikey Garcia and learn to move his head and work his way in by using a stiff jab. Holla!

Radam G says:

C'mon, SRD! I know that you didn't mention Super Bad Chad. I did because he's aight! And a lot of people dig him. Holla!

jzzy says:

I'm glad I didn't waste cash watching this card. Top Rank ripped off the fans again, this kinda B.S. is destroying boxing. Rios was obviously protected, the judges probably paid well for their gift. Rios once again proved to be a retard who belongs in the loony bin not pro boxing. Please Marquez, don't fight this clown, he's done nothing to deserve a shot at you and is a disgrace to the sport.

jzzy says:

Rios exposed, he's been protected and manuevered by Top Rank who tried to rip off the
fight fans again. We could smell this card before the first bell. You"re killing boxing by promoting crap like this on PPV for $55. Marquez don't give this nitwit Rios a thought, if fight with Pac fails, then retire with dignity.

alhmiel says:

Why can't boxing just have Harold Ledderman and teddy Atlas and Max Kellerman judge every big fight. That way you would get an honest evaluation and a fair one. These pin head dorfs judging have something wrong with them. Alsopost each rounds score cards by judge so the fans and the world can see how these morons are viewing the same fight. Abril got screwed and it is sad. Rios stunk out the joint. But the threee judges stunk even worse.

alhmiel says:

Why can't boxing just have Harold Ledderman and teddy Atlas and Max Kellerman judge every big fight. That way you would get an honest evaluation and a fair one. These pin head dorfs judging have something wrong with them. Also post each rounds score cards by judge so the fans and the world can see how these morons are viewing the same fight. Abril got screwed and it is sad. Rios stunk out the joint. But the threee judges stunk even worse.

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