Danny Garcia-Brandon Rios (Fight Preview)
By Ralph Rimpell
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 16 Feb 2018
On Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, the red hot welterweight division continues to get even hotter when two former champions Danny ?Swift? Garcia (34-1, 19KOs) and Brandon ?Bam Bam? Rios (34-3-1, 25KOs) face each other in a WBC welterweight eliminator.
It?s as though unofficially, there is a tournament to crown a new undisputed welterweight champion and these two have entered the tournament.
Much is at stake for both Garcia and Rios. Garcia suffered his first official loss and the loss of his WBC welterweight title in a unification match with Keith Thurman last March of 2017. Rios was WBA champion at lightweight back in 2011, but is now campaigning at welterweight. His losses at welterweight were to elite fighters Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley.
No matter how anybody slices this fight it is a ?crossroads fight? for both fighters. The winner will move on to bigger and better things likely another world title fight and/or larger fight purses. The loser will likely go to the back of the ?proverbial line?, demoted to ?gatekeeper? status for upcoming welterweight prospects, and earn lesser fight purses for their services. So what are the keys to victory for each fighter?
Danny Garcia has stated Brandon Rios ?likes to Bang?, no doubt in reference to brawling action. It appears he intends to return the favor. That may be good to earn the respect of Rios and keep him at bay, but that alone will not be enough to secure Garcia a victory this Saturday. Garcia will have to dig down deep in his bag of tricks for this fight as Rios is rumored to be highly motivated for a win. Garcia has to be first in landing punches. He has to dictate the pace, use combinations, and use the entire ring with good footwork. Part of Garcia?s offense should be a good defense. Garcia has to do this for an entire 12 rounds to be victorious.
Brandon ?Bam Bam? Rios is trained by former world champion Robert Garcia. Robert Garcia?s father is Eduordo Garcia who guided two of his sons (Robert Garcia and Mikey Garcia) to world titles. Remember Fernando Vargas and Victor Ortiz? They too were trained or guided along with many other former world champions and contenders by this Father and son team of Eduordo and Robert Garcia out of Oxnard California. ?Bam Bam?, as Rios is affectionately known as well, have to do a lot of ?Bam Bam? (body punches) in order to negate Danny Garcia?s movement. ?Bam Bam? will also have to throw combinations and be first. He has to dictate the pace and throw all punches with ?bad intentions?. He has to convincingly outwork and beat up Garcia to earn the TKO stoppage victory or to be awarded the decision victory.
This writer sees this fight being close for the first 4 rounds with both fighters scoring well against one another. The winner of this fight will be the one who is able to best execute their game plan on the opposite fighter. This writer picks Rios by TKO victory in the 9th round in an upset of the year fight.
Contact Writer: RLuvsboxing@aol.com
About the Author:
***Ralph Rimpell is a writer based out of New York and is a Boxing Correspondent for Philboxing.com. Ralph holds an undergraduate degree from City University of New York. He has been a Boxing Writer for over ten years having written for several top boxing websites on the World Wide Web. Before becoming a writer, Ralph's passion was for professional wrestling until he realized professional wrestling was entertainment and not a real sport. It was at that time the 1984 US Olympic team made up of future stars such as Evander Holyfield, Meldrick Taylor, Pernell Whitaker, etc. entered the professional ranks and signed with promotional outfit Main Events.It was also at that time a young exciting Heavyweight originally hailing from Brooklyn named Mike Tyson also turned professional and became the face of boxing. Young boxing fan Ralph just couldn't get enough of boxing as a large part of it was being broadcast on "free TV". As time went on, Ralph felt boxing writers were not being forthcoming with their boxing coverage, opinion pieces, interviews, etc. So Ralph decided to write an article and submitted it to a Boxing website thinking it would be deleted and ignored by the Editor. To Ralph's surprise his article was posted on their website and the readers embraced it. The rest is history.
"I thank God for the Internet because it has created opportunities for writers like myself who likely would not have been given an opportunity to write for print publications. I hope someday soon to expand my role in Boxing on different levels." -- Ralph Rimpell
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ralph Rimpell.
Recent PhilBoxing.com In-House articles:
Filipinos Vitor and Tapales Take on Russians for IBF Asia Titles in Moscow Today
By Dong Secuya, Fri, 13 Feb 2026Manny Pacquiao Promotions Returns to Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula, Calif. with a Pair of World Championship Bouts
Fri, 13 Feb 2026IOAN CROFT AND GARAN CROFT SIGN FOR MATCHROOM BOXING AS EDDIE HEARN LOOKS AHEAD TO BRIGHT FUTURE FOR EXCITING WELSH TWINS
Fri, 13 Feb 20263 Division World Champion & Hall of Famer Marco Antonio Barrera Confirmed for Ninth Annual Box Fan Expo, During Cinco De Mayo Weekend, Saturday May 2, in Las Vegas
Fri, 13 Feb 2026Day One Concludes at 2026 USA Boxing International Open
Thu, 12 Feb 2026Female Boxing GOAT Katie Taylor to be Special guest at All-N.E. Golden Gloves Thursday, Feb. 12, in Lowell, MA
Thu, 12 Feb 2026Brandon McCarthy Signs with Wise Owl Boxing, Set to Make Noise at 135 lbs
Thu, 12 Feb 2026Filipino Boxers Set for Action on Valentine's Day in Thailand
By Carlos Costa, Wed, 11 Feb 2026Oklahoma Outplays LA Lakers, 119-110; Arrests Skid to Hold on to League Lead
By Teodoro Medina Reynoso, Wed, 11 Feb 2026Malaya Vibrations to play gig at 5th MFPI Mindanao Summit
By Lito delos Reyes, Wed, 11 Feb 2026Fight of the Night in Thailand: Ador Torres and Sairike Tuolewutayi Battle to a Thrilling Draw
By Carlos Costa, Wed, 11 Feb 2026Young Australian Benji Birchell Claims Title Win in Thailand
Wed, 11 Feb 2026Tickets for the Inaugural “Mike Tyson Invitational” Amateur Fight Night on Saturday, March 14, in Las Vegas Are on Sale Now
Wed, 11 Feb 20262026 USA Boxing Men's Elite High Performance Team and Squad Rosters Announced
Wed, 11 Feb 2026IIEE, SAEP shared lead, PIChE won 3rd in a row in the PTC WED NEMO Chess
By Marlon Bernardino, Wed, 11 Feb 2026