Brandon Rios to fight Richard Abril April 14th; Rios-Gamboa fight is dead in the water

By Boxing News - 03/14/2012 - Comments

Image: Brandon Rios to fight Richard Abril April 14th; Rios-Gamboa fight is dead in the waterBy Dan Ambrose: The previously scheduled April 14th fight between Yuriorkis Gamboa vs. Brandon Rios is now officially dead with Gamboa opting not to take the fight. Top Rank, the promoters for Gamboa and Rios, is reportedly suing Gamboa for breach of contract for failing to take the fight after having already agreed to it. The fight was supposed to be televised on HBO.

Rios will still be fighting on the same night, but against WBA interim lightweight champion Richard Abril (17-2-1, 8 KO’s) at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. It appears HBO isn’t interested in televising that fight, so there will have to be another network to show if it’s to be televised at all.

The ins and outs of the Gamboa/Top Rank affair will now sort itself out in court. In the meantime, Rios will be facing the lanky 5’11” Abril in a fight which shapes up to be a mismatch. Abril is more of a slapper, although he’s capable of stopping opponents every now and then. He reminds of of a weaker and slower version of Amir Khan when you take away his speed, power and punching form. Abril punches with the wrong part of his glove and often and looks sloppy. He tends back away when his opponents come at him and is easy to hit when he’s standing in the pocket.

He went life and death with Breidis Prescott in a 10 round decision loss in 2008, and then was beaten by Hank Lundy by another 10 round decision in 2010. Since then, Abril has faced mostly 2nd tier opposition with the exception of his last fight against former WBA World lightweight champion Miguel Acosta, who Abril beat by a 12 round unanimous decision last October. Abril knocked Acosta down three times in the fight with flubbing shots.

Rios will completely dominate Abril and in an easy KO win. It’s too bad a better opponent can’t be found than this because Abril is lacks power and will get dominated. I’d much rather see Rios face Jorge Linares or Mercito Gesta instead.



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