ATLAS NOT SHRUGGING Bradley Handles Rios Easily, Scores Stoppage In 9th

In the HBO main event, two name vets, Tim Bradley and Brandon Rios, TV faves, got it on. A possible fight of the year was teased, not even close though.

Because Bradley was so dialed in, sharp, and Rios was….not.

The WBO 147 crown was up for grabs on Saturday, at Thomas and Mack in Vegas. A left hook to the body sent Rios down and then more body shots sent him to a knee, and the ref halted it.

The end came at 2:49; maybe, though, the end came for Rios months earlier. He complained after that his body wasn’t cooperative after eight months off, many of those spent acting like a Regular Joe. This bodily rebellion happens, eventually, to every single ultra-vet on this planet. We saw it live Saturday night, and Bradley took full advantage. I have to think this Bradley trained by Kim Kardashian would have done the same to this Rios…

Top Rank put the show together.

In the first, Bradley came out banging. Rios, who needed extra time to shed .2 pounds Friday,  threw wide shots. Bradley was now with Teddy Atlas; would he tweak his game or be the same? They rumbled some, then Bradley backed off, moved, and banged to the body. A hard right, a sweeping left clanged Rios, who shook his head no. Atlas after said he didn’t want Tim to get greedy. Two, three, then slide. In the second, Rios wanted to be more aggressive. He landed a sharp right, and the crowd buzzed. He was now dictating, backing Tim up, being busy, throwing low, making it a fight. In the third, Bradley was moving more again. They were toe to toe, and then Rios got hit low. The round favored Bradley, probably. Atlas after said he wants every round to be all focus.

In the fourth, we saw Bradley move. He hooked as Teddy told him not to, as a lead…Then Bradley put together combos. Bradley went 33-87, 14-62 for Rios…In the fifth, the left hook worked for Tim. He was busier, as before, winning another round. Let’s go, work on the inside, said Robert Garcia to Rios after. To the sixth, we saw Bradley hooking, and Rios plodding after him. Inside, Bradley ripped left hooks after smothering smartly. Then he jabbed from the outside…Different looks from Bradley. Garcia pleaded for harder work…To the seventh, Atlas talked to Max Kellerman, busted his chops, calling him easy to impress, after Max said that they were impressed with Bradley’s quick learning acumen.

In the eighth, Bradley after hearing Atlas yelling encouragement about them being impervious to fire got to work. Rios heard it from Garcia, again. What’s going on, you’re disappointing everybody, he said. In the ninth, Rios was there…but not real there. Tim ripped a hook to the body, ouchie. Down goes Rios..he was up, wobbly, at nine…then he went down again, off more body stuff,  and that was it. Tony Weeks didn’t bother to count…

The left to the body was in between his arms, and he hated it. Rios hesitated, then took a knee. Two rights and two lefts to the body were the sum of the finishing blows.

— Photo Credit : Chris Farina – Top Rank

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