Is Brandon Rios Really Retiring?

Brandon Rios suffered a terrible loss against WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley Jr., a fight that was obviously dominated by Desert Storm.

Despite claims that he is ready and he knows what the future holds in the event that he gets past the American boxer, Rios’ performance didn’t exactly pan up. He was totally outboxed by Bradley and all that was punctuated with those knockdowns in the ninth round.

At that point, Bradley was way ahead in the scorecards and now the 29-year-old boxer is leaning towards retirement.

Devastated and beat, Bradley leads a pack of people who believe that the decision may be a result of frustration on the part of Bam Bam.

“It's sad [that he decided to retire]. I don't know if it's a rational decision because of the disappointment [from the loss]. I really hope that he gives it some time and really thinks about it because he's still young, he still has a fighting opportunity and he can still come back and rise. He just has to get focused. That's it. It's all about focus. He need to focus and take care of himself,” Bradley said in an interview with BoxingScene.com.

Apparently Bradley is speaking from experience. Bradley’s lone loss came at the hands of a common foe in Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao back in 2014 where he lost via unanimous decision.

Bradley found the road to recovery tough, settling for a draw against Diego Chaves and then pulling off a controversial decision win over Jessie Vargas. It was only in the recent victory that Bradley was able to get back on track and he believes that Rios should consider the same.

Then there is the age factor. Rios is only 29 while Bradley is already 32. Given the chance, Rios can still recover and work his way back into respectable contention if he so does chooses.

“He comes back because he can fight. He can truly fight. He's a very, very talented guy in what he does when he comes forward and applies the pressure. He's a big puncher, he can take a punch. But it's very sad [that he decided to retire] and I wish nothing but the best for him,” adds Bradley in the same interview.

But of course, the final decision lies in the hands of Rios. His decision to announce his retirement is seen as a knee-jerk reaction to the loss and hopefully some time off can convince Bam Bam to rethink his decision still he does have talent and a whole lot of boxing years ahead of him if he plans to rebound from this setback.