Brandon Rios came up short two weekends ago in a bid to put his rivalry with Mike Alvarado to an end. The first fight was a classic and the second one was another gem. Rios came out strong and nearly stopped Alvarado early. Looking back at it, Rios regrets not pushing on the pedal early.
“When I caught him, it was my fault; I admire my punch too much. I should have jumped on him like I did in the first fight. This time I hit him and I took a split second to look at it. I admired my punch too much, it was a learning experience, and the split second let him get his head back together. He’s tough, but I should have followed through,” Rios told ThaBoxingVoice.com.
Rios seemingly staggered Alvarado twice and was using the jab effectively. Rios felt he should have continued pressing the action with the jab.
“It’s because I did abandon my jab, the jab worked very well. If I would have kept on, it would have been a different story. But it happened when he ran, I gave him some space, but he was running, not throwing punches. Nothing we can do about it but be ready for the next one.”
Rios said he finally watched the fight and disagrees with the judges. He feels he won the fight and at worst deserved a draw.
“I watched the fight over and over. I scored it 7-5 to me. Some rounds are so close and some rounds were close where we both didn’t do much either, I would have scored it a draw. 6-6 would have been fine with me,” explained Rios.
Alvarado surprised many people included Rios with sticking to a game plan that wasn’t going to be an all-out war like the first time. In this fight, Alvarado moved, boxed, clinched, and won. Rios was surprised.
“I didn’t expect he was going to stick to the game plan. I thought we were going to duke it out. I gave him the credit. It sucks he won the fight, even though I thought I won. What else can I do?”
Some ringside observers felt Rios let Alvarado steal some of the rounds because he was chasing and Alvarado would end the rounds with flurries after he moved for parts of the round. Rios agrees. “I did let him steal some of the rounds. You can’t win a round the last ten seconds. Some rounds I feel that I did let off the gas and those rounds were close but there was no way in hell, he won a unanimous decision,” explained Rios.
Driving home from Vegas, Rios received a call from his head trainer Robert Garcia, who shared the same sentiments. “Robert feels the same way. He said I went home and watched the fight; he goes you won the fight Brandon. Some rounds were really close but we did win the fight. We both came out with the same thing, even his dad said I won a close fight, if not he would have gave it a draw. But you know what it happens. Maybe because Las Vegas thought they gave me the win with Abril, they didn’t want to give me a decision. But congrats to him, let’s do it again.”
Rios was criticized for the way he conducted himself in the post-fight interview by some fans and media alike. But he says he really doesn’t remember his tirade.
“Honestly, after the 3rd round with Mike, I don’t remember the fight after he staggered me. I don’t remember hitting him low; I don’t remember telling Max (Kellerman), he needs to get his eyes checked. Yes he stunned me in the 3rd round; I give him credit for that. I don’t remember the fight. It’s fuckin crazy.”
Listen to the full interview here:http://mixlr.com/thaboxingvoice/showreel/brandon-rios-emmanuel-taylor-juan-diaz-the-return-of-the-baby-bull/
