The Howling Brandon Rios TKO 10 Miguel Acosta

Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios lived up to his nickname by rallying from a slow start to clawhammer Miguel Acosta in the 10th round of a vicious firefight at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Rios, 134 1/2, charged Acosta from bell to bell with limited success early on, but he eventually caught up to his frail opponent and scored the kind of stoppage that simultaneously thrills and disturbs.

For four rounds, however, Acosta, also 134 1/2, punished Rios with straight rights, left hooks, an occasional uppercut, and lead lefts to the body. Rios had his moments here and there, but he looked like he was out of his depth early. A couple of left hooks to the body seemed to visibly affect him. It was no surprise when Acosta began to paste Rios with everything but the girl. “Bam Bam” is a poor defensive fighter and punches from all angles hit him like brickbats hurled by an angry street mob.

Acosta, Caracas, Venezuela, landed a crushing right late in the third that brought a goofy smile from Rios. But he would find nothing amusing in the fourth round, when Acosta sat down on his punches a little more and whacked Rios around the ring with cruel precision for nearly three minutes. Rios, perhaps for the first time in a very long time, found himself abandoning his pressure game and backing off. Just before the bell, a stiff combination appeared to shake him, and he trudged back to his corner with a discouraged look on his face. For his part, Acosta returned to his stool looking more than a little winded.

In the fifth round Rios, Oxnard, California, came out at the sound of the bell and redoubled his efforts, digging to the body whenever he could and mixing it up with Acosta along the ropes. But after five rounds Acosta was comfortably ahead on the scorecards. His movement kept Rios off-balance and his right hand appeared laser-guided at times. Still, Acosta, 32, would occasionally lay on the ropes to draw leads from Rios, a dangerous game to play with a puncher, and every now and then his moves seemed to lack purpose. Wasting energy in the ring against a give-and-take fighter who figures to keep the pressure up for as long as he can is an error in judgment.

In addition, Acosta appeared to be throwing change-ups in the early rounds, alternating quick but weak flurries with hard shots here and there. He might have been better off digging in and throwing heat more often. When he did, as in the fourth round, Rios, 24, was staggered by his shots. His biggest mistake, however, was holding his hands too low while exchanging.

Barely half a minute into the sixth round, Rios landed a three-punch combination punctuated by a jab that decked Acosta, who beat the count but looked ragged for the rest of the fight. Over the next round a half, Acosta deked and ducked when against the ropes, countered well in spots, and ran off eye catching combinations, but exchanging punches in close with Rios is drunken wisdom at best. And soon Acosta was tipsy again, when a rampaging Rios floored him with a left in the 8th.

With his legs unsteady for the reminder of the fight, Acosta tried his best to ward off his storming opponent, but Rios is nothing if not relentless. From time to time Acosta would land a combination, but there was little power behind his blows, and Rios walked right through them. Ripping shots from head to body and back again, Rios marched forward with the inexorability of Fate.

Finally, in the 10th round, Acosta opened up too much and for too long, and Rios connected with an overhand right that made Acosta curtsy in the ring. He was badly hurt by the blow. Acosta did not hit the canvas, however, but popped up raggedly again, defenseless against the ropes, where Rios ripped a vicious combination–a right, a left to the chest, and another whiplash right–that landed with sickening force.

Acosta collapsed in his own corner, his right leg pinned beneath him at a strange angle, where one of his seconds dove through the ropes to embrace his fighter, a white towel in his hands and a look of anguish on his face. It was a brutal stoppage and Acosta remained seated on the canvas–as still as a daguerreotype portrait–for a moment. He recovered enough to conduct a post-fight interview with Jim Gray, but Acosta, who slipped to 28-4-2, was later removed from the ring on a stretcher.

With the win, Rios, now 27-0-1, overcame his most dangerous opponent, showed resiliency and heart, thrilled a small crowd and a Showtime television audience, and gets to keep on doing his victory shriek for a little while longer…at least until its echo overwhelms him.

Brandon Rios Knocks Out Miguel Acosta For WBA Lightweight Title

LAS VEGAS/GRAND ISLAND Neb. In an all action fight, Brandon Rios captured the World Boxing Association (WBA) Lightweight championship from Miguel Acosta via 10th round knockout in the first night of a stacked 2011 lineup for SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® and SHOWTIME PPV®. In the evening’s co-feature, Antonio DeMarco won a unanimous decision over Reyes Sanchez.

“A star was born tonight,” said Hall of Fame Top Rank promoter Bob Arum as Rios (27-0-1, 19 KOs) thrilled the crowd with an action-packed performance and 10th round knockout victory over Acosta at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. The 32-year-old Venezuelan had the early upper hand over Rios by moving around the ring and landing hard punches to the head. Acosta (28-4-2, 22 KOs) was able to stifle Rios’ game plan by boxing the brawler with a strong jab through the first several rounds. But by the end of the fifth, Rios finished with a flurry and walked back to his corner with a sense of confidence that shined throughout the rest of the fight.

In the sixth, Rios, 27, was finally able to force Acosta to engage in an inside scrap. Rios, the naturally larger fighter, started unloading his heavy hands and eventually dropped Acosta with a left jab. “I’ve got a pretty good jab … when I use it,” joked the predominantly come-forward fighter.

The knockdowns didn’t stop there. Rios, fighting out of Oxnard, Calif., continued to apply pressure and forced an off-balance Acosta to the canvas with a left in the eighth before pleasing the pro-Rios crowd in the 10th with a knockout punch that landed Acosta off his feet for the final time at 1:14 in the 10th round.

With tears of joy in his eyes after the fight, the newly-crowned champ showed tremendous modesty in his reaction. “I proved I’ve got a good chin now,” Rios said with a smile. As for what’s next for Rios, the determined fighter said he would fight anyone in the lightweight division. “Whatever Bob Arum wants,” said Rios as Arum looked on with a proud smile.

Following his first loss since 2003, a disheartened Acosta admitted, “I’m more sad than hurt. I prepared for the fight but Brandon Rios has power.”

Though in vastly different locales, the SHOWTIME sweet science scenario in the Midwest featured the same division as Las Vegas. In front of a near sellout crowd of 6,000 at Heartland Events Center in Grand Island, Neb., lightweight DeMarco (25-2-1, 18 KOs) earned his position as the mandatory challenger for the WBC lightweight belt by defeating a game Sanchez.

In the opening minute of the 12-round distance bout between two Mexican fighters, DeMarco landed a big left hand that opened a cut above Sanchez’ left eye. The third round featured DeMarco scoring with a left hook that brought Sanchez (20-4-1, 11 KOs) down before referee Vic Drakulich correctly ruled it a slip. The gash and near knockdown, however, had little impact on Sanchez as the cut fighter proceeded to back up DeMarco throughout the second half of the fight. Though aggressive, Sanchez’ punches were slow, soft and caused little to no damage.

Sanchez kept the fight competitive but eventually lost a unanimous decision by the scores of 116-112, 117-111, 115-113.

Coming off of his first career loss to Edwin Valero one year ago, DeMarco didn’t have the dominant performance he hoped for against the long and lanky Sanchez but showed poise throughout the fight in contrast to his barroom brawler days of yesteryear on ShoBox: The New Generation.

Said DeMarco: “Sanchez is a great fighter and he threw a lot of punches. It was a great fight. I love fighting in Nebraska. The crowd was really into it. That really motivated me.”

As part of the crowd, former world champions Frank Tate and Leon Spinks looked on from Nebraska where the state held its first night of boxing in three years. In contrast, the host of countless boxing matches, Las Vegas, featured some current boxing stars in the crowd including Urbano Antillon, who will rematch Humberto Soto after their 2010 fight of the year barnburner on the May 7 Manny Pacquiao-Shane Mosley undercard on SHOWTIME PPV, and Rios’ stablemate Nonito Donaire.

Tonight’s lightweight action will replay on Tuesday, March 1, at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT on SHO Extreme and be available On Demand beginning March 1 through March 14.

Steve Albert called the action with Al Bernstein serving as expert analyst and Jim Gray as ringside reporter in Las Vegas, while Curt Menefee handled blow-by-blow in Nebraska with Steve Farhood on hand for color commentary.

Brandon Rios Rallies and Knocks Out Miguel Acosta

It went as it was expected from both sides, but at the end of Saturday night's lightweight main event at the Palms in Las Vegas, Brandon Rios was left with his undefeated record and the biggest win of his budding career. Rios knocked out Miguel Acosta in the 10th round of a spirited battle that is an early contender for 2011 Fight of the Year.

Rios (27-0, 20 KO) was in trouble early in the fight, as Acosta (28-4-2, 22 KO) won the opening four rounds with his superior boxing skills and excellent movement and counter-punching. The Venezuelan slickster just looked to be the better boxer on this night, and it appeared that he was headed for an eventual knockout victory of the plodding Rios.

But Rios would not relent, and eventually, caught up with Acosta enough to start doing serious damage. In the sixth round, a three-punch combination ended with a short left hand that put Acosta on the mat, the first really significant change in momentum for the Mexican-American in the bout.

Acosta rebounded in the seventh and eighth rounds, but late in the eighth was caught and knocked down once again. In the ninth, Rios and Acosta slugged away at one another until it appeared neither would have much left, with Acosta looking worse for wear. That proved out in the 10th round, as Rios brutalized Acosta and finished him off with a hard knockout flurry.

I'm not going to go overboard and proclaim that the sky is the limit for the 24-year-old Rios. I think Miguel Acosta was overall the much better fighter in this fight. But what matters is the result, and Rios plugged away and pounded and battered and absorbed hard shots, sapping the life from Acosta and ultimately knocking him out clean. It was a star-making sort of performance for a kid who has a lot of potential to be a star. He doesn't need to win every fight for that to happen, and expectations shouldn't go wild. Will he ever be a "pound for pound" contender? It's highly unlikely. But he is an action star, and action stars mean dollar signs. They also mean great fights.

So in that sense, yes, Rios has a big future. His true prime may be fairly short, because he's so reckless, so brave, and so stubborn as a fighter that eventually the punishment is likely to pile up. But right now, he's proving that even if he's not a great technician, he is at the top of his game. His chin proved out as he took many hard shots from Acosta, who can punch, and when faced with a top-of-the-line foe, Rios came out standing tall. He did it because he's just that tough. He is the heir apparent to his stablemate Antonio Margarito.

As far as his personality goes, here's what I can hope, and what I will hope, because I want to believe in it. I hope we never see another "incident" like last November from Rios again. He's too likable otherwise, too good a fighter, too tough. If there is justice in this world, we should be comfortable counting Brandon Rios as a favorite fighter. I want to. Don't you?

In defeat, Acosta has nothing to hang his head over -- nothing at all. He fought a good fight and just succumbed to a powerful young man who wasn't going to take no for an answer. He's a terrific fighter, which says all the more about Rios' victory. Both men deserve hats off for their excellent performances in this fight.

In the televised co-feature from a packed Heartland Events Center in Grand Island, Nebraska, Antonio DeMarco outpointed Reyes Sanchez over 12 rounds of some of the sloppiest boxing you'll ever see on one of America's big three boxing networks. DeMarco improves to 25-2-1 (18 KO), while Sanchez falls to 20-4-1 (11 KO). It was an entertainingly ugly fight -- "bowling shoe ugly," you might say. They had a tendency to scrap hard for the last 10 seconds of most of the rounds, but otherwise there was very little by way of clean, effective punching. Sanchez had no zip on his fastball and DeMarco fought far too tentative. The win puts DeMarco in line for a shot at the winner of May's rematch between Humberto Soto and Urbano Antillon. If Soto wins, he and DeMarco have said they won't fight one another, as they are cousins. If Antillon beats Soto, DeMarco could be in for a world of trouble. He was smothered all night by Sanchez, which is exactly what Antillon would try to do to him, and Antillon can punch and is simply a far better fighter than Sanchez. The young Sanchez gave his all in this fight, he just wasn't ready for this caliber of opponent yet. The Nebraska fans booed the decision, but it was the right call. This was probably a fight that did look different live, though, and I guess if you really favor aggression, you could argue Sanchez won. Again, neither of them did much clean punching.