After 19 months away from the ring, former welterweight world champion Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios made his return to headline a special Sunday night edition of PBC on Fox Sports 1.
Rios was in against a tough veteran in Aaron Herrera, with the two both more than willing to trade blows and stand toe-to-toe right from the opening bell.
Rios started the fight strong, looking sharp with his combination work, but Herrera showed fast hands and a commitment to aiming for Rios’s body.
Herrera began to truly threaten in the fourth round, landing clean shots both up top and to the body consistentl. But Rios lived up to his career-long billing as an all-action fighter who would smile after taking a big shot and continue to press forward.
That persistence paid off in a big way in the seventh round, when Rios was able to stun Herrera back to the ropes with a big left hook to the ribs to finish off a combination, then seconds later with a right to the body. After Herrera took that big right, he took a knee and was unable to get up and beat the count.
The win improved Rios to 34-3-1 (24 KO) in his decorated career, and marked him as officially “back” as a name in the mix for some big fights in boxing’s loaded 147-pound division.
