Bryan “Latino” Acosta and two-time championship challenger Ronny Rios will meet at the Thunder Studios in Long Beach, California on Saturday, with their promoter calling it “a throwback fight” over 10 rounds at bantamweight.
Mexican Acosta is coming off two losses but is still only 27 and has a 20-2 (8 KOs) record. The defeats came to good opponents in Sulaiman Segawa and Ramon Cardenas. Californian Rios, boxing in his hometown, has not boxed since his competitive 2024 defeat to Nick Ball for the WBA title at 126lbs. Rios was dropped three times and stopped, but was typically game and is now 34-5 (17 KOs).
The bout will be on ProBox TV, and Garry Jonas said: “We just did a world championship fight, now we’re shifting gears to a throwback night of ‘make or break’ action fights. These shows are where many of our best fights happen. 50/50 matchups with careers possibly on the line tend to bring the best out of both fighters. Ronny Rios is coming off a championship loss to Nick Ball, so it’s ‘do or die’ for him. Bryan Acosta is also coming off tough losses to Ramon Cardenas and Sulaiman Segawa. He’s in a ‘now or never’ position too.”
The bill, presented in association with Robert Garcia and Sampson Lewkowicz.
The co-feature – a 10-rounder at lightweight – pits the 22-5 (13 KOs) Rene Tellez Giron, of Queretaro, Mexico, against the heavy-handed “Mayhem” Maliek Montgomery (20-2, 18 KOs), who fights out of Las Vegas via Macon, Georgia.
“Our co-main could have easily been the main event,” Jonas added. “Rene Tellez just had a great performance against Jordan White. He’s looking to keep his momentum going. Maliek Montgomery is coming off a tough loss where he threw 1,000 punches. “This is another ‘must win’ fight for both guys and a guaranteed all-action fight.”
On the Future Stars section of the bill Leonardo Rubalcava, 10-1-1 (4 KOs), boxes an eight-rounder at lightweight against Juan Antonio Llanes, who is 12-2-1 (7 KOs) and from Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico.
Over six rounds at 154lbs, the 3-0 (2 KOs) Hawaiian KJ Waialae faces 2-0 (2 KOs) Monray Marable, of Lancaster, California, and in a lightweight four-rounder promising Australian Cooper O'Connell, 3-0 (3 KOs) of Logan City, Queensland meets 2-0 (2 KOs) Jorge Garcia Manrriquez, of Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico.
