Third time is a charm.
That’s what Ronnie Rios is hoping for when he challenges Nick Ball for the WBA featherweight title on Saturday at the M&S Bank Arena (formerly The Echo Arena), Liverpool, England.
Rios previously fell short in two attempts for junior featherweight against WBC titlist Rey Vargas (UD 12) in 2017 and then-IBF/WBA boss Murodjon Akhmadaliev (TKO12) in 2022.
He returned to boxing after 22 months off earlier this year with an impressive fifth-round stoppage over Nicolas Polanco, leading him to another, and likely last, world title shot.
“I have a different mindset for this fight than the other (world title) fights,” Rios (34-4, 17 knockouts) told The Ring. “I feel much more confident going into this fight.
“I started my career at 126, I was actually 126 for the first few years and then I dropped back to 122. I had maybe six, seven fights at 122, but most of my career was at 126. But the title challenges I’ve had before, I’ve had at 122.”
What turned out to be Rios’ extended stoppage was actually intended to be final, but as boxing does, it reeled him back.
“I did retire for those 22 months, I didn’t plan to come back,” he explained. “I had a full-time job, I was a rental consultant for Avalon. I have a family, I just focused on that and then I missed the sport, I missed the riding and I said to myself: ‘I know I can win those world titles if I try again.’ I just had that passion and hunger.
“I’ve always heard, and now I’m a firm believer, nothing fixes your mindset like time. Honestly, after the Akhmadaliev fight I didn’t have the hunger, I retired, I didn’t love the sport anymore, I was tired of the sport and then during that time off, I missed it, I had the little things missed. It’s funny, I missed the things I didn’t like to do, for example interviews, I was always very shy. I didn’t like interviews before fights, I kept to myself. I even missed it during my downtime. I missed the pictures, I missed the promos. I was like, ‘If I were to come back, I’d have to do it all differently.’ And sure enough, when I came back, I did everything else and I had fun with it.”
His advisor, Roberto Diaz, has known Rios for many years and initially questioned the fighters’ decision to return to boxing.
“Afterwards he came to me and said: ‘I want to fight again.’ It’s very common, you hear that, especially from a fighter like Ronny, who has been doing it from such an early age,” said Diaz. “That’s basically what they’ve done their whole lives. If you take it away, sometimes they miss it, sometimes they don’t.
“I kind of heard it when they reached out and I tried, believe me, I really tried to get it out of his head, but he was very determined to come back. In fact, I told him, ‘OK, show me.’ He trained for a year and I was hoping that in that time he would throw in the towel and say, ‘You know what? I don’t have it anymore.’ And that’s it.
“When I saw his motivation, I had no choice but to help him. When he had that fight earlier this year and he won by knockout, I loved what I saw because it was an older but not worn, not tired, not old fighter, just a wiser veteran. He was aggressive, went in there and worked hard and didn’t look like he was out for almost two years. He got the knockout, and that led to this opportunity.”
It’s also the first time Rios has fought outside America since returning professionally in 2008.
“It’s good, it’s something I wanted, it’s something different,” he said. “It puts me out of my comfort zone, even though I don’t feel uncomfortable at the moment, it’s something new for me, it’s surprising. The pressure is no longer on me because I don’t box at home. It feels like I’m boxing all over for the first time, I have that hunger, I have that drive.”
The 34-year-old veteran is well prepared for Ball, and says he knows what the defending champion will try to do in their fight.
“He likes to come forward and put the pressure on,” he said. “I’m not going to have to go looking for him because I know he’s going to come to me. We have multiple game plans, we can’t just come into a big game with just one game plan, we have a few and I know he’s going to apply the pressure, so I expect that.”
In fact, Rios intends to turn Ball’s greatest strength against him.
“He’s going to come forward, believe me. I’ve been doing this for a long time, so I know what to capitalize on,” he said calmly. “I’ve seen a lot of tapes about him, he likes to come forward, he likes to be the bully, he likes to be in command. There are a few fights where I saw holes in his game, so I plan to go there and capitalize on them. We are ready for Saturday.”
Rios, who is a substantial 15/2 (+750) minor, is taking it all in his stride.
“I know for a fact, I can take him into deep waters,” he said. “I know he likes to come forward, so we have to make him feel uncomfortable, we have to change the game plan. I’ve had almost 40 fights, I’ve seen a lot of different styles.”
Diaz also understands how tough this fight will be, but feels Rios is in a good spot to cause the upset.
“I am undoubtedly not blind, I understand the game, it is a difficult task, young kid, in his hometown, undefeated, to defend his title and has the motivation to come out successful. But I love these opportunities because these are the type of fighters who believe, and have experience, and you can’t buy experience, and it only comes with time and Ronny brings experience. He brings hunger, talents have always been there, it’s just a matter of getting that desire back,” Diaz said. “Once you have that desire, you have the hunger and you have that talent, you still have that one fight in you and you are a dangerous fighter.”
Ball (20-0-1, 11 KOs), rated No. 4 by The Ring at featherweightturned professional in 2017 and claimed a WBC regional title by beating Isaac Lowe (TKO 6) on the Tyson Fury-Dillian Whyte undercard. It was the leg the 27-year-old needed. He then added wins over Ludumo Lamati (TKO 12) and former junior featherweight titlist Isaac Dogboe (UD 12) to solidify his title credentials.
In March, Ball overcame a major disadvantage to drop WBC titlist Vargas twice to earn a draw that many felt he deserved to win. He then met WBA reigning Raymond Ford and battered him in a closely contested 12 round split decision.
Ball-Rios, plus undercard action, will air on ESPN+ at 2pm ET/11am PT and on TNT Sports at 7pm GMT.
Questions and/or comments can be sent to Anson at (email protected).
