On Friday, December 16, 2016, Featherweight contender Ronny Rios (27-0, 12 KOs) scored a sixth-round TKO victory against Roy Tapia (12-2-2, 6 KOs) at the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California.
The fight opened a three-fight telecast of Golden Boy Boxing on HBO Latino in the U.S. The night was headlined by a Light Heavyweight fight between Vyacheslav Shabranskyy and Sullivan Barrera.
Rios, with a combination of uppercuts and shots to the body, slowly wore Tapia.
Tapia started the rounds well by pushing forward and pressuring Tapia. However, Tapia clearly showed his experience by calmly brushing off Tapia’s aggression before looking for counter punches and opportunities for combinations.
By Rounds 5 and 6, Rios began hurting Tapia more and more, especially by focusing on the body. It was clear that Tapia would need a knockout to win.
However, instead of taking more punishment, Tapia did not leave his stool at the end of Round 6. Thus, Rios earned himself a stoppage victory.
“I was just in there having fun,” said Rios.
“I’m more aware of my surroundings. I could hear my coach, and I could relax my arms so much more,” said Rios.
Rios, 26, is a native of Santa Ana, California who has been with Golden Boy since 2009. Rios was on a great path until suddenly suffering a changing stoppage victory to Robinson Castellanos in October of 2014.
Since then, Rios had been slowly repairing his career, and his win tonight is yet another good step toward one day fighting for a title.
“I was in the same position Roy is in now at one point in my career, and all I can say is that you learn so much more with a loss than you ever could with a win,” said Rios.
Tapia, 25, is a California native who was part of the stable of fighters who were signed by Golden Boy at the end of 2014.
After losing to Erik Ruiz in 2015, Rios moved up in weight and took on more than he could take with Rios. We’ll see what Tapia will do after being stopped for the first time.
“After the fight, Ronny came up to me and told me to keep my head up and to keep fighting. I’m going to listen to him,” said Tapia.
What did you think of the stoppage victory? Let us know in the comments section below.
Photo courtesy of HBO Latino
