Bradley dominates and downs Rios
WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (33-1-1, 13 KOs) scored a 9th round stoppage over challenger Brandon Rios (33-3-1, 24 KOs) on Saturday night at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.
Bradley dominated fellow American Rios for the entire fight, using his speed and superior boxing skills, before he finished him with two knockdowns in the 9th.
Bradley fought very well under new guidance from trainer Teddy Atlas and set the pace for the fight from the start, landing a series of head shots early in the first round.
Rios, who ballooned up to 170 pounds after Friday's weigh-in, did pick it up a bit in the second round, tagging Bradley with a looping right hand, but the champion took it well and came back with a conbination while Rios was never able to land more than one shot at a time.
Bradley was much busier throughout and continued to land hard shots until he finished it in the 9th.
He landed a left to the body and a right to the head to send Rios to the canvas, and although Rios beat the count, he was done.
An onslaught of punches put Rios down again and referee Tony Weeks waved it off at 2:49 of the round.
"I saw I hurt him early to the body," said Bradley. "I kinda wanted to get him not thinking about it for a while, then I went back downstairs.
"I got a knockout win against a great champion and a great opponent in Brandon Rios."
Former WBA lightweight champion Rios announced his retirement after the fight and said: "My body is not the same no more. I've been in a lot of wars. I think it's time to hang it up. I'm done."
Also on the card, WBO featherweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko (5-1, 3 KOs) stopped Mexican Romulo Koasicha (25-5, 15 KOs) in the 10th round.
The Ukrainian controlled the fight from the start and displayed great skill throughout.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist punished Koasicha with a succession of unanswered punches in the 10th, before a left to the body sent the challenger to the canvas and unable to beat the count at 2:35 of the round.