PRINCE ALBERT PAGARA CRUSHES OVER-MATCHED JESUS RIOS IN ONE ROUND
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 08 Aug 2015
IBF Intercontinental super bantamweight champion Prince Albert Pagara crushed his overweight and overmatched Mexican opponent
Jesus "Chito" Rios to win by a TKO in 2:00 minutes of the very first round before an enthusiastic crowd of Filipinos at the Dubai International Trade Center late Friday night, Manila Time.
Rios who initially came in at 3.8 pounds over the 122 pound limit but managed to shed off some of the excess weight and came down to 124 pounds or two pounds over the limit which meant that even if he won he would not get the title was initially dropped with a vicious left hook to the jaw.
Prince Albert Pagara who had an intense look in his eyes went after the Mexican and when Rios? his right hand got entangled in the ropes Pagara pounced on him with another cracking combination to knock him out cold with referee Bruce McTavish calling a halt without even bothering to count.
There were some anxious moments as Rios lay flat on the canvas while doctors gave him oxygen before he eventually got up on his own after a couple of minutes to the relief of the fans..
Dubbed ?Duel in Dubai II? in the widely acclaimed ?Pinoy Pride? series edition 32 of Ala Promotions and ABS ? CBN, the fight could hardly be considered a duel as the 21 year Prince Albert hardly broke into a sweat before disposing of Rios who entered the ring with the reputation of a puncher behind a record of 25 knockouts in 31 wins with 7 losses and one draw but was clearly no. match for Prince Albert Pagara who is ranked No. 5
in the world by the ibf AND No. 12 by the WBC.WBO.
With the win the undefeated Prince Albert improved to 24-0 with 17 knockouts and earned the right to make his American debut at the StubHub Center in Carson City, California in ALA Promotions initial offering in the US set for October 17.
Elder brother Jason "El Nino" Pagara, the light welterweight who is ranked No. 2 by the WBO had a much harder time against Ramiro Alcaraz before winning by an 8th round technical decision when the ringside physician ruled that a nasty cut suffered by Pagara above his left eyelid following an accidental clash of
heads in the opening round for which referee Ver Abainza slapped Alcaraz with a one point deduction worsened enough to blur his vision as the blood streamed into his eye forcing the referee to stop the contest on recommendation by the ringside doctor.
Two good right hands and a stinging left by .Pagara in the second round and a left hook that shook Alcaraz towards the end of the round helped Jason overcome the awkward style of the Mexican southpaw who continued to target the cut without too much success.
Referee Abainza called a halt in round four to have the doctor check Pagara?s cut before he waved on the fighters after which Pagara nailed Alcaraz with a solid right and as the animosity appeared to grow both fighters exchanged punches after the bell in round six although Abainza only penalized the Mexican with a point deduction and not Pagara.
A low blow by Pagara caused a break in the action before another clash of heads worsened the cut on Pagara?s eyelid which caused the stoppage with The judges scorecards coming into play as Pagara won 77-73 on the scorecard of Robert Dale Bridges,78-72 Dan Nietes and 76-74 Greg Ortega.
As expected hard-hitting southpaw Jimrex Jaca and Mexican slugger Pablo Lugo Montiel engaged in a war with Jaca controlling the first three rounds with some Solid left hooks and uppercuts before he let his guard down and was caught by some well-timed counters by Montiel who dropped Jaca in the fourth round with referee Samson Libres mistakenly ruling it a slip.
Montiel refused to be thwarted and sent Jaca to the canvas for a second time in the round with a left hook before the Filipino who was in deep trouble kept spitting out his mouthpiece to buy some time for which he received a warning by Libres.
Jaca who appeared to be a spent force at the end of the fourth round made an amazing comeback in the very next round and nailed Montiel with a thundering left hook and followed this up with a big left hook and an uppercut that wobbled Montiel in the last few seconds of the round..
Jaca helped seal the win with a series of big lefts in the eighth round to earn the nod of all three judges with Dan Nietes and Greg Ortega having Jaca ahead 78-74 and Robert Dale Bridges 77-74
With the win Jaca improved to 40-8 with 22 knockouts while Montiel fell to 21-6 with 17 knockouts.
Photo: Referee Bruce McTavish checks on the fallen Jesus Rios as Albert Pagara celebrates in the neutral corner. Photo by Dong Secuya.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
Recent PhilBoxing.com In-House articles:
76ers star Paul George has been suspended for 25 NBA games by doping
By Gabriel F. Cordero, Sun, 01 Feb 2026Fit To Be Unified: Xander Zayas Defeats Abass Baraou To Unify Junior Middleweight World Titles
Sun, 01 Feb 2026Fit To Be Unified: Xander Zayas Defeats Abass Baraou To Unify Junior Middleweight World Titles
Sun, 01 Feb 2026Trazo beats Jabagat in Talisay
By Lito delos Reyes, Sun, 01 Feb 2026Into fights Sanchez on Feb. 9 at Villa Kristen
By Lito delos Reyes, Sun, 01 Feb 2026Teofimo Lopez vs Shakur Stevenson: Styles Make Fights Fitting Cliche
By Chris Carlson, Sat, 31 Jan 2026Bryan Flores Wins Majority Decision Over Starling Castillo in Main Event of ProBoxTV’s ‘The Contender Series’ at Live! Casino Hotel Maryland
Sat, 31 Jan 2026KinetixSports Legacy Run on March 1
By Lito delos Reyes, Sat, 31 Jan 2026THE RING 6: OFFICIAL WEIGHTS AND RUNNING ORDER FOR TEOFIMO LOPEZ VS. SHAKUR STEVENSON
Sat, 31 Jan 2026Legendary Soccer Player Sergio Ramos to make professional boxing debut
By Gabriel F. Cordero, Sat, 31 Jan 2026Weigh-In Results: Xander Zayas vs. Abass Baraou
Sat, 31 Jan 2026Teofimo vs Shakur Fight Analysis
By Ralph Rimpell, Sat, 31 Jan 2026Rohan Polanco-Christian Gomez Welterweight Showdown Canceled
Sat, 31 Jan 2026NEWCASTLE WEIGH-IN RESULTS AND FIGHT NIGHT RUNNING ORDER CONFIRMED AS MURTAZALIEV AND KELLY CLASH FOR WORLD TITLE
Fri, 30 Jan 2026Boxers Make Weight for Brico Santig’s Exciting 21-Bout Promotion in Thailand (PHOTOS)
By Carlos Costa, Fri, 30 Jan 2026