Jamie Cox vs. Martin Fidel Rios – Results

By Boxing News - 10/23/2016 - Comments

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By Scott Gilfoid: Undefeated super middleweight Jamie Cox (21-0, 12 KOs) defeated Martin Fidel Rios (20-10-3, 11 KOs) by a 10 round points decision to capture the vacant WBO Inter-Continental super middleweight title on Saturday night at the Bolton Whites Hotel in Bolton. Referee Phil Edwards, who really had his hands full in controlling this fight, scored it 98-86 for Cox to give him the win.

That was a fair score. However, you can argue that Edwards should have disqualified the 30-year-old Cox for all the awful fouling he was doing the entire fight. I lost track of all the head-butts that were initiated by Cox in the fight. He was constantly sticking his head into the face of Rios like a Billy goat for the full 10 rounds.

Cox knocked Rios down in the 3rd round. While Rios was down, Cox nailed him twice. Oddly enough, the referee Phil Edwards didn’t take points off for that foul. I can understand a fighter getting away with hitting opponent with one shot while they’re down on the canvas, but two punches? What’s up with that?

Edwards did take points away from Cox on three separate occasions in the fight in penalizing him for a beautiful rabbit shot in the 2nd, hitting on the break in the 4th, and head-butting in the 8th. However, Edwards missed a whole BUNCH of fouls that Cox committed in the fight in terms of head-butts, rabbit shots, and the punches that he threw Rios was down on the canvas in the 3rd. I personally thought Coz should have been disqualified for all the fouling he did, because it was just WAY too much.

I’ve never seen a fighter foul as much ax Cox did in this fight and not get disqualified. The referee should have done something with the way that Cox was sticking his head in the face of Rios the entire fight. It looked bad on Cox’s part, and totally unnecessary because he had the better boxing skills of the two by far. Cox made an easy fight very difficult with his fouling.

Rios was docked points in round three for spitting out his mouthpiece while he was down and in the 8th round for what appeared to be him trying to bite Cox. It looked like Rios was trying to bite Cox. It’s unclear. Cox didn’t like it, and he immediately retaliated by ramming his head into the face of Rios, which resulted in him losing a point for the flagrant foul. It was an interesting round to how these two fighters bent the Marquis of Queensbury rules and turned the fight into an ugly street brawl.

To Cox’s credit, he eased off on the fouling in the 9th and 10th and did a better job of landing shots without the extracurricular stuff. However, Cox was still coming in with his head in the face of Rios, and he was able to get away with it. I’m not sure if Cox can’t fight normally like other fighters by standing on the outside, throwing punches and resisting the head in the face bit.

I think it might be a stamina issue with Cox, because he ended up wrestling with Rios after every two or three punches. Cox would come forward with his head down, throw two or three shots, and then end up wrestling or holding Rios. During these wrestling episodes, Cox’s head was frequently in the face of Rios, causing him to turn his head to the side to keep from getting cut to ribbons. Cox would then brain him by nailing him with a shot to the side of the head. It was so ugly to look at.

If you look at Cox’s early fights in his career in 2007 and 2008, he was much different fighter back then. Cox had impressive boxing skills, and was able to do a lot of different things in the ring. He looked like the finished product at the time. But somewhere along the lines, Cox has tinkered with his fighting style and turned into a real roughhouse type of fighter. He would be so much better if he reverted back to the fighter he was when he first turned pro. At 30, I’m not sure if Cox can change what he’s evolved into as a fighter.

I’m not sure who taught Cox to fight the way he’s fighting now, but he might needs to think about getting another trainer if this is what his current trainer is teaching him. If Cox had someone like Abel Sanchez training him, he’d be able to get him back to the fighter he once was. I’m not sure if Sanchez would agree to train Cox or not, but he might.

It would be interesting to see what Sanchez could do with a fighter like Cox to help him develop, because he seems to have lost his way for some reason. Tonight’s fight was like watching an entirely different fighter than the one that turned pro years ago. What the heck happened to Cox for him to turn into a roughhouse fighter? i think it’s highly doubtful at this point that Cox can be improved enough for him to be a major player in the super middleweight division. He seems to be too focused on his roughhouse tactics and not enough on his boxing skills. Cox won’t go far with the way he fights now. I’m surprised Cox is still undefeated, but then again, he’s never fought anyone that I would call a good fighter. It’s hard to believe that someone 30-years-old and undefeated like Cox has never fought a top talent in the 160 or 168lb divisions.

In other action on the card, former IBF bantamweight champion Paul Butler (22-1, 12 KOs) defeated an overmatched Alexis Ruiz (11-4, 4 KOs) by a 10 round unanimous decision. The final score was 99-92. The win was the fifth straight for the 27-year-old Butler since losing to Zolani Tete by an 8th round knockout in March of 2015. For some reason, Butler is facing only weak opposition since his loss to Tete. I could understand one or two confidence builder type fights for Butler after the loss to Tete, but not five of them. Come on, it’s time for Butler to get back out there and start fighting world level opposition again. He can’t devote the remainder of his career in fighting fodder after his disappointing loss to Tete. Things happen. You’ve got to get over it and move on.