Murodjon Akhmadaliev dominates, stops Ronny Rios in 12th round
Murodjon Akhmadaliev can beat a legitimate contender even with one hand.
The unified 122-pound champion stopped brave, but overmatched Ronny Rios in the 12th and final round on the Jesse Rodriguez-Srisaket Sor Rungvisai card Saturday in San Antonio.
Akhmadaliev (11-0, 7 KOs) used a stick-and-move strategy brilliantly, consistently landing hard, accurate shots and then moving away before Rios (33-3, 16 KOs) could get much done.
Rios was the aggressor much of the fight. He simply couldn’t land punches consistently against a better boxer.
Akhmadaliev had a big round in the fourth, hurting Rios badly with a body blow and then following with some big shots to the head. Rios somehow remained on his feet and survived.
The southpaw champion said afterward that he injured his left hand in the second round but that didn’t help Rios much. Akhmadaliev continued to control the fight with right hooks and occasional lefts, along with his movement.
It appeared as if the Uzbek would win a decision. However, in the 12th, he went after the knockout in spite of the hand injury and got it. He hurt Rios again with a body shot and followed with a flurry of punches to the head, which forced Rios to take a knee.
Rios got up and tried to fight back, but the referee decided he was taking too much punishment and stopped the fight.
The official time of the stoppage was 2:06 of the final round.
Akhmadaliev holds two of the four major junior featherweight titles. Unbeaten Stephen Fulton has the other two, meaning a fight between them would produce an undisputed champion.
Is that the matchup Akhmadaliev wants?
“I’m ready for any fight,” he said through a translator. “It doesn’t matter to me. Whatever the big boss, [promoter] Eddie Hearn, says. We’ll go that way.”
