Timothy Bradley, fighting with Teddy Atlas in his corner for the first time, looked extremely sharp in stopping Brandon Rios in the 9th round on Saturday night in Las Vegas. Bradley (33-1-1, 13 KO’s) was very busy and punished an out-of-shape Rios with clean shots to the body and head throughout.
Rios (33-3-1, 24 KO’s) looked out of shape and reportedly weighed 170 lbs. as he entered the ring for the welterweight title fight.
Bradley started fast and never let up, with just a little resistance from Rios in rounds two and three as he built up a huge lead. A body shot in the 9th round put Rios down and when he got up it didn’t look like he had much left. Bradley finished it off moments later with another knockdown and referee Tony Weeks waved off the fight.
Official time of the stoppage was 2:49 of round 9.
Rios announced his retirement during his in-ring interview with HBO. He lamented a long layoff and not being able to get his body respond when he did finally determine that he needed to train. Rios has now lost three of his last five fights.
Atlas, as one would expect, was a highlight reel himself in between rounds with fiery speeches that Bradley responded well to.
On the undercard, featherweight titlist Vasyl Lomachenko scored a 10th-round KO of an absolute no-hope challenger in Romulo Koasicha. The former amateur star was vastly superior to Koasicha and the bout was little more than a sparring session.
