By Francisco Salazar
Ronny Rios has had difficult challenges thus far in his career.
Brawlers, boxers, and veterans have tried and Rios was able to do enough or dominate to victory.
There was one opponent that almost got the better of him. A pinched nerve momentarily derailed the Rios train towards a contender status, but he was able to overcome that.
Now, he faces a stern test on paper when he takes on Robinson Castellanos in a 10 round bout tonight at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, Calif.
The bout will headline a Golden Boy Promotions card and will be broadcast live on a “Golden Boy Live” telecast, beginning at 10 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. PT.
Rios is coming off a hard-fought 10 round unanimous decision win over Andrew Cancio on April 14 in Chicago, Ill. The 24-year-old was preparing for possible fights this past summer when a pinched nerve in his upper right back affected his training regimen.
He was able to run, but was not able to spar or do any other strenuous activity that involved mitt work. He is eager to make up for lost time.
“I’m very excited to be back in the ring,” Rios told Boxingscene.com in a telephone interview earlier this week.
Now he faces an experienced and dangerous individual in Castellanos. Having won 11 fights in a row, that streak was snapped in his last fight when Castellanos was stopped by Rene Alvarado on February 15.
Castellanos does have wins over Celestino Caballero and Alberto Garza and a fight could put him back in the top 10 of a few sanctioning bodies.
“I actually wanted to fight Castellanos before he lost,” said Rios, who is managed by Frank Espinoza. “I really wanted to fight him. He’s still a dangerous fighter in my eyes. He’s pretty wild and he throws a lot of power punches. He’s beaten prospects and has a lot of good victories.”
Rios weighed in at 128 pounds for his fight tonight. He can still make 126 pounds, although time will tell when he will make the eventual move up to 130 pounds.
“I’m not killing myself now. We’ll see what happens in another year and if when I would make the move to 135 pounds.”
Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Salazar also covers boxing for the Ventura County (CA) Star newspaper, RingTV, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing
