Brandon Rios vs. Urbano Antillon Was the Closest We've Had to Hagler vs. Hearns

Saturday night, the real fight fans knew we were in for a treat as we were already planning on seeing an incredible fight full of action and excitement. Anyone who knows how Brandon Rios and Urbano Antillon fight knew it was going to be nothing short of a war inside that ring.

Yes we keep on comparing every potentially good hyped action packed fight to the standard and very high bar of Hagler vs. Hearns and unfortunately, all fights pretty much fall short of that comparison by a lot.

However, Saturday's Rios/Antillon fight was probably the closest thing we have had in a long time where two brawlers really trade toe to toe and slug it out non-stop for entire rounds.

I had the honor of watching this fight live at the Home Depot Center and the crowd's energy was so unbelievably strong you just had to sit there and see it to believe it.

Just as many of us true fight fans envisioned both Rios and Antillon came out swinging hard from bell to bell with bad intentions, all power shots nothing set up with the jab, and no feeling each other out.

Antillon was throwing and landing more at first and Rios appeared to be quite composed with his tight defensive guard up looking to counter.

Toward the end of the first round, Rios seemed to open up and land cleanly up the middle with combinations and upper cuts.

The second round was just as good as the first, but on steroids. Both fighters traded huge shots that made you wonder how they were both still standing. Again, the crowd was getting more fuel to throw on the fire and more people could not even sit in their seats for the excitement just got the best of them.

Finally in the third round, all hell broke loose even further when Rios knocked Antillon down hard. Everyone around me jumped to their feet. Then came his second knock down and everyone was standing at that point until the referee waved it off.

Many of Antillon and his Maywood area supporters left the stands, instantly obviously upset with the outcome.

The Rios fans and his Oxnard crowd remained standing in utter excitement and hysteria for several minutes until the official call was read by the Classy Jimmy Lennon Jr. and even through out the post fight ring interviews.

At the post fight conference, I was talking with several of the boxing media, some of your favorite fighters and the president of Top Rank, Todd Duboef, and we were all in agreement that Rios is one of those exciting fighters who will just keep getting better and keep winning over the masses with his exciting all-action knockout performances.

I told Duboef you are going to be making a ton of money off this guy if he keeps fighting the way that he does. I even went on to say for all the haters who say boxing is boring or dead that Rios is the fighter to prove them wrong.

We even made the comparison to the late Arturo Gatti.

These post Hagler/Hearns great fights such as Rios/Antillon and of course Castillo/Corrales all are exciting all action fights that can win over any casual fan to love the sport of boxing.

Unfortunately, unless you are subscribed to Showtime or at least have a boxing fan buddy to point these wars out to you on YouTube then you may never get to witness these great fights.

Brandon Rios is however different. He is 25 years old entering into his prime and getting better and better with each fight. He is one of the few fighters who can talk a lot of trash but can not only back it up in the ring but exceed the trash talk hype by his beat down performances in the ring.

He's a big powerful strong lightweight who can keep dominating as he goes up in weight class. Who with the guidance of his top trainer Robert Garcia can have a legendary career.

For those of you who think boxing is boring or dead, pay close attention to Brandon Rios. Watch his fights on YouTube and whenever he fights next do not miss it, because soon he will be what everyone is talking about at the water cooler on Monday at work, and you do not want to be left out of the conversation.

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