By Jake Donovan


The first season of the revamped Telefutura Solo Boxeo Tecate boxing series came to a close on Friday evening, with Ronny Rios remaining unbeaten after his eight-round decision win over Alfred Landeros in their eight-round main event at the Four Points Sheraton in San Diego, California.


Both fighters weighed in at the contracted limit of 128 lb.


At no point was Rios ever in danger of losing the fight but was forced to work every minute in order to escape with his “0” intact. Landeros was outgunned, but game throughout, forcing an inside fight though at no point able to dictates the terms.


Rios managed to maintain a considerable lead on the scorecards by sticking to a disciplined game plan. The Santa Ana native, who turns 23 next month, targeted the body whenever action took place on the side, and shooting crisp combination upstairs.


Landeros had his moments of success, but usually came in spurts that would eventually leave himself open for a counter attack, thus immediately conceding momentum.


Though the threat of a knockout never surfaced, the ballroom crowd rallied behind Rios in hopes of the featherweight prospect closing strong.


Chants of “Ronny” began to echo through the room, to which Rios responded with a spirited attack. Landeros never wilted, often immediately responding with combinations of his own, leading to some fan-friendly action in the closing moments of the bout.


Scores of 80-72 across the board were all in favor of Rios, who improves to 13-0 (6KO).


Landeros drops his seventh in a row, as he returns to Mexico with a record of 20-17-1 (9KO).


Rios closes out a strong 2010 campaign, scoring five wins on the year. The featherweight cut his teeth on the wildly popular Fight Night Club series shortly after signing with Golden Boy Promotions last June, along with stable mates Luis Ramos Jr. and Carlos Molina, all three of whom proudly represent the Espinoza Boxing Club.


Friday’s bout marked his first headliner on Telefutura’s Solo Boxeo Tecate series.


Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com. Follow Jake on Twitter at twitter.com/JakeNDaBox or submit questions/comments to JakeNDaBox@gmail.com.