Estrella TV Quick Pick

Rios looks to build on his win over Jayson Velez

Ronny Rios vs. Efrain Esquivias: Once again Golden Boy Promotions will air a card on Estrella TV they dub "L.A. Fight Club."  The main event of that card will be a fight between Ronny Rios (25-1, 10 KO) and Efrain Esquivias (17-4-1, 10 KO).  That fight is scheduled to go 10 rounds in the bantamweight division.  These fighters are in two very different places in their careers.  Rios is a young fighter who has won two fights in a row following his only career loss and is coming off of a great performance and win over Jayson Velez on the undercard of the pay-per-view fight between Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and Miguel Cotto.  Meanwhile, Esquivias is in his 30s and in his last six fights has put together a record of 1-4-1 and he has lost his last two fights.  Rios is an orthodox fighter who loves to work behind his jab, and he has a good one.  That jab is the punch he uses most often and he likes to follow it up with a good straight right hand.  What you won't see Rios throw very often is a left hook and he always prefers to counter punch from the outside.  The biggest advantage for Rios is this fight is his height and reach.  He is 3-inches taller than Esquivias and his reach is a full 8-inches longer, all things that will help the counter punching Rios find success from the outside.  Esquivias is also an orthodox fighter but he likes to mix things up on the inside.  He fights behind a high guard and he likes to work his jab and follow it with a crooked right hand thrown with bad intentions.  However, he can also straighten that punch out and drop opponents with it.  With all of those weapons Esquivias also does a nice job of banging his left hook to the body.  However, Esquivias hasn't looked good in recent fights and the size differential will be hard for him to overcome because if he wants to win he will need to get inside and do damage from the pocket.  Esquivias has a punchers chance but the counter punching of Rios will be the difference in this fight and he will control the action on his way to a unanimous decision victory.