When Ronny Rios sat down to pick through the wreckage of his world title defeat to Murodjon Akhmadaliev in 2022, the Californian couldn’t muster the enthusiasm to pick up the pieces.
Rios was heartbroken after the 12th round stoppage but his disappointment was compounded by behind the scenes arguments and disagreements that had turned the sport he once loved into an energy and joy-sapping chore. Rios walked away from boxing.
It didn’t happen immediately but, cut off from the business and politicking of the sport, he slowly began to remember exactly why he fell in love with boxing as a teenager and found his way back to the gym.
On October 5, Rios fights WBA featherweight champion, Nick Ball, 20-0-1 (11 KOs), in Liverpool but the 34-year-old is only here because he was drawn back by the thrill of the fight.
“I missed the excitement. A lot of people don’t know but you just can’t find this excitement anywhere else,” Rios, 34-4 (17 KOs), told BoxingScene. “People ask me if I can describe the excitement. I always tell them, ‘Look, I don’t do drugs but I can only imagine that this is like a drug too. It’s addictive.’ When you get ready for a fight and then you win it, it’s a different type of relief and a different type of satisfaction.
“I fight for my family but, at the end of the day, when you win after all that hard work? You keep telling yourself that you can do it and then you do. That feeling. It’s addictive.”
Rios, a ProBox TV fighter, is still chasing that ultimate high.
The fight with Ball will be his third world title shot. Five years before the loss to Akhmadaliev, he was outpointed by a peak Rey Vargas for the WBC title. In an era of disposable world title belts and transactional champions, Rios has been given two of the toughest tests possible. Make that three.
The featherweight division has been one of the most active and exciting in world boxing over the past 12 months and although a number of fighters will believe that they hold a genuine claim to be recognised as the best 126lbs fighter on the planet, it is hard to argue against the fact that Ball is the most in-form featherweight around.
The Liverpudlian has put together an extremely impressive body of work over the last year. He dominated former super bantamweight champion Isaac Dogboe, and then appeared extremely unfortunate to have to settle for a split draw after bullying Rey Vargas for the majority of their WBC title fight. In June, the 27 year-old became the WBA champion by beating Ray Ford over 12 high quality rounds.
Rios has been handed another extremely tough assignment but wouldn’t have it any other way.
“A world title is a world title. Whenever I’ve fought for world titles before, it wasn’t as if I was fighting for vacant belts, they were legitimate champions,” Rios said. “I’ve never sparred or fought Nick so I can’t compare his power to their power but I know that his aggression is very very good. I just know that I have to be in the best shape of my life. There’s no extra incentive, in those two years I just wanted to win this world title. It’s something that I’ve been trying to reach since I was 13 years old.
“He’s going to come prepared and we’re going to make each other work. We’re going to average a lot of shots and this is going to be a battle of wills.”
Rios is looking forward to fighting somebody of his own ilk. As Ball found out, the gangly and – as is often forgotten – talented Vargas presents an awkward night’s work for everybody and Akhmadaliev is a brilliant talent who is strong, powerful and extremely difficult to shake out of his southpaw rhythm once he establishes it.
In Ball, Rios won’t have to look too hard to find a kindred spirit. If this is to be his third and final attempt to win a world title, he will at least be able to be himself.
“I like the way he fights. He comes forward and he’s aggressive. I come forward and I’m aggressive too. I think it has the potential to be a candidate for Fight of the Year. When I see Nick Ball, I just see somebody who is hard working. In my opinion, he’s fought the best. Even that one draw [with Vargas] I haven’t seen it yet but from what I hear, he should have won the fight. In my eyes, Nick’s the champion and the one to beat.”
John Evans has contributed to a number of well-known publications and websites for over a decade. You can follow John on X @John_Evans79
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