Photo by Steve Marcus/Getty Images
Before the first defense of his WBO Welterweight crown against Brandon Rios (33-2-1, 24 KOs), Timothy Bradley (33-1-1, 13 KOs) had not scored a knockout since 2011–and that was against a faded Joel Casamayor.
Tonight, however, in the main event of an HBO doubleheader at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, Bradley knocked Rios out in the ninth round.
It was an ending that perhaps many didn’t expect, especially since Bradley is not known for knocking people out and Rios’ chin is literally made of iron.
However, there were two important narratives coming into the fight: Would look better under his new trainer, Teddy Atlas? How would Rios’ eight-month layoff affect him?
In the opening round, the effects of both were clear as Bradley took the center of the ring confidently and began jabbing Rios before landing hooks to the body on the inside.
Rios, who blew up to a stunning 170 pounds after barely making the 147-pound limit, looked sluggish and worn out.
Years of fighting in wars and the eight-month layoff took its toll on Rios, and Bradley was ready to take advantage with more hooks on the inside followed by steps to the side–something he and Atlas had been working on in camp.
By the later rounds, Bradley’s concentration–according to Atlas–seemed to wane, which provoked a speech between Rounds 7 and 8 that was worthy of a motion picture.
“We are firemen! The heat doesn’t bother us! We live in the heat!,” yelled Atlas.
“Flames don’t intimdate us! We control the flames!,” Atlas yelled before the break ended.
What both were expecting was a Rios who was in better shape, one who could actually push Bradley in the later rounds with some actual fire.
Instead, what they found was a man whose lack of discipline and willingness to engage in too many wars had finally caught up to him. The flames of the former Lightweight and Super Lightweight star had been extinguished.
Rios was done, and he was done before the fight started.
In Round 9, Bradley landed a powerful body shot that dropped Rios, which was followed with another body assault that quickly ended the fight.
Rios announced his retirement after the fight, noting that his body wasn’t the same anymore and that he had been in too many wars.
As for Bradley, he will begin training again with Atlas soon, and he feels that the sky is the limit for his new-found partnership with Teddy.
Despite a dominant win and despite a reinvigorated Bradley, questions will still remain as to whether Bradley has drastically improved, or if clever matchmaking made him look spectacular tonight.
What do you think about Bradley’s win? Let us know in the comments section below.
#BradleyRios #Boxing pic.twitter.com/hlObVGkiuz
— RoundByRoundBoxing (@RBRBoxing) November 8, 2015
Header photo by Steve Marcus/Getty Images
