Veteran contender Ronny Rios says it would be a “dream come true” if he were to win a world title at the age of 34 on October 5.
Rios (34-4, 17 KOs) is traveling to Liverpool to take on WBA featherweight titlist Nick Ball in his first fight outside the United States. Speaking on “Big Fight Breakdown” on ProBox TV, Rios said that he is “very excited” about the opportunity.
“It just feels different,” he said. “I’m in somebody else’s backyard. This is something different. It just feels new to me. Which, to be honest, I like.”
Rios has twice before challenged for a world title, dropping a decision to Rey Vargas in 2017 for the WBC 122lbs belt and then being stopped by Murodjon Akhmadaliev in a tilt at the WBA and IBF straps in 2022.
Prior to the Akhmadaliev loss, Rios had been fighting more sporadically, with just one bout in the previous two and a half years, and afterward he disappeared for the best part of two years.
“The time off, I’ll be honest with you guys, was very crucial for me,” he told co-hosts Chris Algieri and Paulie Malignaggi. “I’m a firm believer that nothing helps you get over a loss [more] than time. There was a time when I did retire. I had a full-time job. Time went by; I gained a little weight – more than a little bit of weight – and then I started going back to the gym because I saw a picture of myself and I thought, ‘Damn! I gained some weight!’ And when I got back to the gym I realized I really missed it.”
He threw himself back into training with gusto and in April of this year he returned to the ring with a fifth-round stoppage of Nicholas Polanco at the ProBox TV Events Center.
“I have two kids now,” he explained, “and I wanted to be able to tell my kids, ‘Hey, you can do anything you want if you put your mind to it.’ And I can’t tell them that without going out and trying it for myself. I didn’t come back for a payday, I came back to win a world title and now that opportunity’s here.”
Rios recognizes the danger that Ball (20-0-1, 11 KOs) – who won the title via hard-fought decision over Raymond Ford in June – presents, and that the Liverpudlian will try to bring as much pressure to bear as possible. But Rios believes his extra ring experience will prove key.
“I have 18 more fights, I’ve seen a lot more different styles,” he said. “I know he’s going to come forward, he’s going to put the pressure on, he’s going to try and wear me down, so that’s where the experience comes into effect.”
Advised by both Algieri and Malignaggi that the British crowds are famously vociferous in support of their fighters, Rios recognized that he needs to tune out the fans as much as possible and focus on the task at hand.
“I don’t hear the crowd too much,” he said. “I hear my coach, my cornermen … I don’t know if this fight is going to be any different, because I’ve never been in this situation, but all I know is that I have to listen to my corner and I have to stick to my gameplan no matter what.”
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