It may not have surpassed the classic Marvin Hagler vs. Tommy Hearns Middleweight title classic, but the Lightweight title fight between Brandon Rios (28-0-1, 21 KO's) & Urbano Antillon (28-3, 20 KO's) was easily the best three rounds of boxing that Bob Arum & Top Rank have promoted since that 1985 bombs away battle.

There was no love lost between the two Mexican fighters and the anticipation for a great war came to it’s fruition. From the opening bell these guys stood head to head and let the punches fly. It was clear this was going to be a beauty and it was just as apparent that the fight would not go the distance.

Bloodied from the nose in round one Antillon let the champion know he was there for a fight and Rios let the challenger know that there was no amount of pressure that would stop him from keeping his belt.

For two rounds the warriors mounted a fistic battle that had the Home Depot crowd roaring with approval. This was as entertaining as any fight could possibly be.

As round three began the fighters let the leather fly again but before he knew what hit him Antillon found himself getting up off the canvas as a clean right hand nailed the gritty fighter and sent him down. Clearly hurt but not deterred Antillon came at Rios with a full head of steam and was looking to repay Rios for the damage done. For a moment it seemed that Antillon might get himself back into the fight but while swinging away he found himself on the end of yet another right hand and down Antillon went. It appeared to be over but somehow Urbano rose to his feet to fight on. Moments later while in a clinch the ref separated the fighters and the woozy Antillon stumbled to his corner as he was barely able to keep his fight. With Rios breathing fire and looking to come in for the kill referee David Mendoza made the right decision and brought a halt to the war before Antillon could suffer further damage. A jubilant Rios climbed the ring post and saluted his fans as he celebrated his huge victory.

There were no complaints from the Antillon corner, he gave his best but it was not near enough. For Rios it’s all about, who is next now? Names from Khan to Pacquiao were tossed about and although those challenges may seem a bit premature the one thing boxing fans do know, and that’s whether you love or hate Rios he is here for a while and he will be a formidable challenge for whomever he fights.


Cintron Melts Down Again

After the fight trainer Ronnie Shields said of his fighter Kermit Cintron (32-4-1,28 KO's), “We had a great camp and Kermit was ready to go. I kept telling him he needed to throw more punches, he just didn’t do it. I just don’t know what happened.”

And so it goes for Kermit Cintron.

The fighter with so much natural skill and talent again got lost inside of his own world and like we have seen time and time again the fighter who possesses so much talent fell victim to his own demons and was defeated. This time the victor was Carlos Molina (19-4-2,6 KO's) who put on another performance of a lifetime. On paper this fight was Cintron’s fight for the taking, but as the saying goes, that’s why they make ‘em fight.

Molina had Cintron’s number early and with each and every round it was obvious Cintron was failing to come up with any kind of answer for Molina’s attack. Molina was in charge of the fight and the 98-92 scores across the board are very accurate, he won the fight hands down.

I am not a therapist but I will play one here in this article. It just seems to me that when faced with adversity Kermit snaps and no amount of encouragement can bring him back. We have seen it before, his nose dive out of the ring versus Paul Williams comes to mind and his post fight meltdown versus Jesse Feliciano is another. Kermit Cintron is a very gifted fighter but until he deals with the troubles that seemingly come from within he may never be able to allow his God given talents to get him to the top.