By Manuel Perez: The talented but deeply flawed super featherweight prospect Brandon Rios (19-0-1, 13 KOs) stopped Nicaraguan journeyman Carlos Guevara (12-8-1, 9 KOs) in the 5th round of a scheduled 10-round bout on Friday night at the National Western Complex Arena, in Denver, Colorado. Rios, 220, the 2004 United States Amateur Featherweight champion, hurt Guevara in both the 4th and 5th rounds, knocking him down twice in the 5th, causing the fight to be stopped by referee Curtis Thrasher at 1:11 of the round after Rios had connected with a big left uppercut to the head of Guevera.
Rios showed a good body attack throughout the fight, going after Guevera hard with big body shots and giving him a lot of problems.
Rios, matched softly this time out after having fought especially poorly in his last fight against Manuel Perez in October, which ended up as a 10-round majority draw, this time it was much easier for him with the down grade in competition. However, Rios still had his problems with Guevera and took almost as good as he gave in the 1st round. But, Rios turned it on in the second half of the round, laying into Guevera with hard left hands to the head and body, mixing up his punches well. Near the end of the round, Rios unloaded on Guevera with a flurry of shots to end the round.
Both fighters traded big shots in the 2nd round, going toe-to-toe and thinking little in the way of defense. Guevera, despite his poor record, showed some respectable power as he matched the 22-year-old Rios punch for punch. At times in the round, it was difficult to tell who the highly touted prospect was and who the journeyman was. However, that’s more of an indication of how much work Rios has to do on his defense than a vote of confidence for Guevera.
The fact is, Rios never seemed to stop to think about his defense as he seemed too concerned about getting off his punches to the midsection and head of Guevera. Rios’ punches really lacked power, which much was clear in watching him. He’s a busy fighter but he can’t punch his way out of a wet paper bag and it’s something that will continue to haunt him during his career, especially as he moved up to B-level fighters. Against an A class fighter, I see Rios getting taken out quick.
In the 3rd round, Rios fought reasonably well in the first half of the round, landing some good body shots and backing Guevera up around the ring. In the last minute of the round, fired off repeated uppercuts, catching Guevera in the head over and over again and seeming to hurt him as the bell sounded to end the round.
In the 4th round, Rios pasted Guevera with big shots, uppercuts, right hands and hooks to the head, in the opening minute of the round. He then cornered Guevera up against the ropes and hurt him with two uppercuts to the head. Seconds later, Rios knocked Guevera down with what seemed to be a left hand that strayed low, causing Guevera to go down and stay down for a considerable amount of time. However, the punch had actually nailed Guevera on the left side, in perfectly legal spot, sending him down in pain. After staying down for a little over a minute, he got up and continued fighting. Rios finished the round strong, hurting Guevera with a left uppercut.
Guevera looked bad as he started the 5th round, judging from his defeated-looking body language. Sure enough, Rios dropped him with a left hook to the head in the opening seconds of the round. After Guevera beat the count and got to his feet, he continued to take punishment around the ring. The end came after Rios nailed him first with a right uppercut followed by a left uppercut to the head that sent Guevera down to the canvas on both knees. Referee Curtis Thrasher then stepped in and halted the fight at 1:11 of the round.