By Chris Robinson

We are now a few weeks away from on of the sport's most anticipated summer duels as WBA lightweight champion Brandon 'Bam Bam' Rios will defend his crown against former title challenger Urbano Antillon at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. It is almost a foregone conclusion that their battle will result in a toe-to-toe trench war, the type of battle where each man will look to impose himself on the other.

Rios is coming off of a wild come-from-behind stoppage over Venezuela's Miguel Acosta last February, a fight that once again saw him inside of the Pearl Theatre at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Rios was able to withstand an early assault from his elder in the opening rounds before turning up the pressure and registering three knockdowns on his way to a 10th round stoppage. 

 

 

A star was definitely born on that night but the 25-year old Rios isn't looking to let any momentum slip away, as evidenced by his grueling training regimen leading into the Antillon clash. A two-hour visit to trainer Robert Garcia's Boxing Academy in Oxnard, California shed much light into Rios' mind set heading into the fight as well as his carefree demeanor.

 

While in camp, Rios loves to crack jokes and talk smack with his team members but when it is time to train he is all about work. On this particular day he could be found sparring twelve intense rounds and as each stanza passed he only seemed to get stronger and stronger.

 

Rios' forte is an aggressive style based on hammering shots to the body and head, and his sessions definitely resonated on this day. July 9th is inching closer and closer and 'Bam Bam' looks to be more on point as each day passes.

Chris Robinson is based out of Las Vegas, Nevada. An archive of his work can be found here, and he can be reached at Trimond@aol.com