By Joseph Herron: In a year that most boxing cynics dubbed as “destined for disappointment”, 2011 has already given us a strong candidate for “knock-out of the year”. Last Saturday’s match-up promised to deliver a memorable evening of boxing, and most would say in retrospect that “memorable” is somewhat of an understatement. The “pound for pound” match-up, Montiel versus Donaire, delivered with a resounding bang. A knock out of that degree usually stays on the forefront of boxing conversation for at least a month. By the time this Saturday’s fight starts, the boxing world will still be “buzzing” about Nonito’s brilliant check left hook to the temple of former Bantamweight Champion Fernando Montiel. But, when Brandon Rios and Miguel Acosta have finished clashing for the WBA lightweight title, the boxing universe will be talking about the amazing “fight of the year” candidate that they had just witnessed.
Brandon “Bam-Bam” Rios versus Miguel “Aquacerito” Acosta is a classic match-up which pairs the relentless aggressor versus the slick boxer/puncher. Like the first bout between Paul Williams and Sergio Martinez, this Saturday’s scrap will prove to be a true war of attrition and a classic test of will.
Brandon Rios comes into this fight with an impressive record of 26 wins, zero losses, one draw, and 19 knock-outs. Along with his undefeated professional record, Rios also brings an unbeaten attitude to the “squared circle”. This fighter truly believes that he is impervious to loss. “Bam-Bam” has the arrogance and swagger of an unbeaten fighter who is willing to “walk through fire” in order to impose his will onto his adversary. In the mind of the 24 year old Texas native, he never doubts whether or not his opponent will succumb to his relentless pressure…he simply ponders the question, “In what round will he break?”
This Saturday night, “Bam-Bam” Rios will attempt to impose his will upon the current WBA Lightweight Champion…something no man has been able to do since 2003.
Miguel Acosta has been a professional fighter since 1999 with a win-loss record of 28-3-2, with 22 knock-outs. After losing three consecutive bouts in 2002-03, “Aquacerito” has put together an impressive streak of 19 straight victories, with 14 of those wins coming by way of knock-out, over an eight year span. Despite being the WBA Lightweight title-holder, the Venezuelan born fighter is one of the most underrated fighters in the sport today, and at 32 years of age, Acosta still finds himself searching for global recognition and universal respect. A win this Saturday night on a major network would definitely be a massive step toward universal recognition as one of the sport’s top fighters.
To say that this fight means a great deal to both men would be a major understatement. This Saturday’s bout is the most important fight for either pugilist to date, so expect a war on February 26th. The duel for the WBA Lightweight title should prove to be another memorable evening of boxing.
TALE OF THE TAPE
Brandon “Bam-Bam” Rios – 26-0-1 – a 24 year old American fighter who trains out of Oxnard, CA, under the tutelage of trainer Robert Garcia. He is a 5’9” orthodox fighter with a 70” reach. Rios is an “effective aggressor” who puts intelligent pressure on his opponents. He has better than average hand speed with good combination punching ability. Brandon possesses decent power, a very good “chin”, and has better than average stamina.
In his last significant fight, against an undefeated Anthony Peterson, Rios averaged almost 100 punches thrown per round…the lightweight average is 63.6. But, because Rios is so offensive minded, he suffers from lapses in defense. As a result, his opponents average a 40% connect percentage per bout. Anthony Peterson collectively had a 52% connect percentage during their October 2010 bout.
Also, what could be a factor in this Saturday’s bout is the weight of Brandon Rios on fight night. In his bout with Peterson, Rios weighed in at 135lbs, but came into the ring weighing 151 lbs. This would seem to explain why he was able to absorb Peterson’s high connect percentage and impose his will on his opponent.
His strategy for victory is to place intelligent pressure on Acosta, using feints and head movement to avoid Acosta’s uppercut as Rios tries maneuver inside. If he doesn’t use head movement with feints and combination punching, he could be stopped in the late rounds just like Urbano Antillon. Also, Miguel Acosta has very good head movement and footwork, so Rios must make more of an effort to work the body than he is usually does. “Bam-Bam” is predominately a head hunter. He must set traps and cut off the ring effectively as well, or Rios runs the risk of simply following around Acosta, while getting beaten to the punch on his way in. If Rios can avoid Acosta’s uppercut while working the body, Rios has a very good chance of outworking the WBA champ and possibly stopping him in the late rounds. The fact that Rios has sparred with welterweight Victor Cayo, in preparation for the big fight, tells me that Robert Garcia is preparing Brandon with this strategy in mind.
Miguel “Aguacerito” Acosta – 28-3-2 – a 32 year old fighter from Caracas, Venezuela. He is a 5’8 ½” orthodox fighter with very good footwork and fluid combination punching ability. He is athletically gifted with fast hands, deceptive power, and a decent chin. Despite being a very capable technical boxer, Acosta has the physical and mental toughness to brawl and work on the inside, and surprisingly, he chooses to use this fight tactic often.
Also, Acosta is no stranger to fighting undefeated punchers. In his last three fights, the WBA Champion knocked out two strong and confident undefeated legitimate punchers, Urbano Antillon and Paulus Moses. In his last three performances, Acosta has looked like a fighter who is in his “prime”.
His strategy for winning the fight is to stick to his technical boxing ability, and use angles and speed to create distance between him and Rios. Acosta is mentally and physically tough, but he can’t get baited into a firefight with Rios, or he could get stopped in the mid to late rounds. He has to use his superior footwork and hand speed to turn Rios and tie him up when in close quarters. Acosta must make Rios respect his power and hand speed early if he wants to control this fight. Also, he cannot get discouraged if his punches don’t have much effect on his 24 year old opponent early. This is an undefeated, confident opponent who will not break down easily. If he sticks to his game plan, while using combination punching and good footwork, Acosta has a very good chance of retaining the WBA Lightweight title.
P R E D I C T I O N
Expect both men to let the leather fly in this fight. I like the attitude and confidence of both fighters going into the bout, and in my opinion, the action could go either way. I can see Brandon Rios eventually imposing his will on Acosta while luring him into a brawl, and I can also envision Acosta getting off first and winning the exchanges on the inside, while fighting a smart disciplined fight. Both men are brimming with confidence, but at the end of the day, experience will be the deciding factor in this fight. Miguel Acosta has the experience handling the “effective aggressor”. While he’s never fought a fighter quite like Rios, I believe he has the superior skills and ring intelligence to defeat the tough but young contender.
R E A D E R M A I L B O X
Joseph,
What are your thoughts on Golden Boy’s (mis)handling of Victor Ortiz? First, they put their young fighter in against Maidana and nearly break his will to continue the sport. Now they move him up in weight to take on Berto in just his first fight at 147. Granted, it’s a title shot, and all credit to them if he pulls it off. But do you think this is the best career path for the 24 year old Ortiz? Or are they setting him up for failure?
Thanks,
1-Ton
Wow. Great question, 1-Ton.
I know Golden Boy still really regrets putting their “blue chip” in against a relatively unknown puncher from Argentina. Unfortunately for GBP, they fell into the trap that a lot of American promoters fall into. They were under the impression that Maidana was an inexperienced and untested foreign fighter, who didn’t have that rich and diverse amateur background; a fighter who would be forced to “learn on the job”, like a Joel Julio or a Ricardo Torres.
They couldn’t have been more wrong. Not only did they underestimate Maidana, they overestimated the mental and physical toughness of the “Vicious” one. GBP should have done their homework and realized the Argentine was for real…he had already displayed his skills against former WBA Jr Welterweight Champ, Andriy Kotelnik, just four months before the April bout with Ortiz.
Most ringside observers knew Victor didn’t have an iron chin, but no one realized Victor had a “heart” deficiency. There’s only one way to truly test the heart of a Champion: the dreaded, but fan friendly, “Trial by Fire”. He didn’t pass his trials, to say the least. Like Fernando Vargas and Micky Ward, GBP gave Victor Ortiz too much, too soon. Hopefully, they haven’t ruined the young fighter.
I think Golden Boy currently has no choice but to move their young fighter up to 147lbs. Victor Ortiz has unfortunately fallen into that category of “too much risk for the reward” in the stacked Junior Welterweight division, and Golden Boy simply isn’t willing to put their current WBA champ, Amir Khan, in the ring with the hard punching southpaw. Also, according to Golden Boy Promotions, Maidana isn’t interested in a rematch with Victor Ortiz, so the revenge bout is out of the question.
Call me crazy, but I actually like this match-up for Victor Ortiz at this moment in time. Andre Berto is coming off of his “blow-out” victory over Freddy Hernandez and could be over confident going into their April 16th bout. Believe it or not, Victor actually enters this fight as the bigger man. His southpaw stance and his hard, straight left hand should pose problems for the 147 lb WBC Champion.
Also, Golden Boy genuinely believes that Ortiz can win this fight…so much so that they negotiated a catch-weight for this fight at 146 lbs to help their fighter’s chances. Whether or not this makes any difference is a moot point. This is a mental ploy as much as it is physical.
Also, listening to a recent interview with Victor and hearing him reflect on his current situation, I actually liked what he had to say. He sounded like a fighter who is going into this fight as a hungry and disrespected “man on a mission”. It sounds like he might actually be willing to “go out on his shield” this time. I for one am legitimately curious and excited about the match-up.
I’m not predicting that Ortiz will win his future bout with Andre Berto, but Ortiz will make a much better showing than anticipated. Let’s just hope that the April 16th bout will be as entertaining as the Collazo/Berto dogfight in January of 2009.
Thanks for the great question, 1-Ton!!
As always, thanks for the emails…the encouraging responses are greatly appreciated. Please send your thoughts, comments, and questions to herron.joseph2112@att.net
More next week…