Brandon Rios received a tremendous beating from Timothy Bradley during their match on Nov. 7, Saturday in Las Vegas, Nevada. Shortly after the fight, the 29-year-old boxing champ announced that he would retire from the sport, a decision that was quickly supported and applauded by his promoter Bob Arum.
Rios has had a total of 37 fights (33-3-1, 24 KO) as a professional boxer. He is known for his brawler fighting style, and has survived a lot of wars throughout the years. Rios might think that his body already received too much beating, which led to his decision to stop fighting.
Rios and Bradley's fight for the WBO Welterweight title on Saturday stopped at round nine. Bradley had already landed a lot of body punches and scored a knockdown when the referee stopped the fight, with Rios unable to get his arms up to protect himself.
During the post-fight interview (via Bad Left Hook), Rios said, "My body wasn't doing what I wanted to do. I tried to pull the trigger and I couldn't let it go."
Rios added that he was not going to fool himself and get beat up, and that he could live his life now. "I made it further than anybody thought I would. I proved everyone wrong," he said.
Top Rank's Bob Arum, Rios' promoter, approved his decision to retire early from boxing, Boxing News reported. Arum said it was a good idea for Rios to stop fighting if he already saved enough money for his retirement. "I think Brandon had a great career. He's one of the most courageous I've ever seen in the ring," Arum said.
Yet, many believe that Rios seemed to be in bad shape during his last fight. Rios himself said that his body is not the same anymore. He struggled to make weight and his training camp did not go well. "It's time for me to say it's over," Rios said. "I'm all done."
Rios could still change his decision, but right now, he appeared to be quite serious about his early retirement.
