Boxing: Rios, Abril to battle for WBA title

LAS VEGAS: The pre-fight verbal sparring promises a tense and entertaining bout today when Richard Abril takes on Brandon Rios for the vacant World Boxing Association lightweight title. Mexican-American former champion Rios had been slated to take on Yuriorkis Gamboa. But when Gamboa signalled his disinterest by failing to show for two press conferences last month, another Cuban-born fighter, Abril, caught Rios off guard by rushing to challenge him. Fireworks have marked the build-up to the bout, including a shoving match at the Los Angeles press conference last week.”No unheard-of fighter like Abril will ever beat me,” said Rios. “He’s going to go down and he’s going to go down real hard. In the boxing world, Abril is in the darkness and I will keep him there.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 14^th, 2012.