By Ryan Burton

WBA interm-lightweight champion Richard Abril (17-3) revealed to BoxingScene.com that his

fight against Brandon Rios (30-0) wasn't as tough as he imagined it would be.  Although

Abril suffered a split decision loss on Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, the consensus at ringside was that the Cuban had won the majority of the rounds of the fight.

"The fight was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I was able to block his shots and the fight went according to the plan my trainer (Osmiri Fernandez) made for the fight," said Abril.

Abril said that the key to the fight was that he dictated the pace and didn't get into a brawl with Rios. The Oxnard, CA based Rios is used to imposing his will on his opponents and breaks them down as the fight goes on.

"Rios is used to fighters fighting his fight. I was able to switch it up and I forced him to fight my fight," Abril told BoxingScene. 

Abril's trainer said that if a rematch against Rios can't be secured that they would speak to the WBA about fighting a highly ranked contender and also mentioned interest in unifying titles with WBC champion Antonio DeMarco or facing undefeated contender Mercito Gesta.

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