Bryan Acosta, backed by a new team, halts his skid

Bryan Acosta, in his first fight with his new team, was able to snap his losing streak – and maybe earn a new lease on his boxing life.

Acosta defeated Ronny Rios via unanimous decision on Saturday at Thunder Studios in Long Beach, California.

It was an uphill battle to climb back from. Acosta, 21-2 (8 KOs), lost a close fight to Ramon Cardenas at junior featherweight last February, then returned last September only to be stopped by Sulaiman Segawa at featherweight. He changed teams and began working with trainer Bob Santos in Las Vegas – a pivotal decision. Although Acosta is only 27 years old, he was facing career jeopardy, as a loss would have forced him to spend years building back to this point.

“It is not easy to bring a guy back psychologically like that,” Santos told BoxingScene. “You can’t buy experience, and you don’t know what you don’t know.”

For this camp, Santos said, he had Acosta work out to his standards. Santos believes that the team, guidance and preparation can be the difference in many close fights.

“If you don’t know how to prepare, it is a crapshoot,” Santos said. “When you have a team that can prepare you, a lot of times at the top level it is a flip-of-a-coin type of fight, between winning and losing.”

Santos believes that winning on ProBox TV – known for putting on 50-50 fights – also holds more value. So Acosta, of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, defeating the 36-year-old Rios – who challenged for the world title on three different occasions – presents new opportunities. Rios, 34-6 (17 KOs), of Santa Ana, California, was coming off a 17-month layoff but had most recently fought for a title against Nick Ball.

Santos isn’t interested in slow-playing Acosta’s next moves.

“I think [this win] opened the door for him, that his name could be in the mix,” Santos said. “We want the best that we can get. You know, the old saying: to strike while the iron is hot.”

Lucas Ketelle is the author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @BigDogLukie.