CITY
SPORTS
FIGHTING FOR GLORY
Rios defeats De La Hoya to
capture the NABF Gold Title
TRAINING / Rios has been working hard to sharpen his movements with eight
weeks of mitt work and shadow boxing for his upcoming fight .
Redemption. On the brink of retirement, Ronny
Rios returned to take on Diego De La Hoya for his
championship belt. The road to glory was never easy.
STORY
RAFAEL VALENCIA
PHOTOS
DORIAN ZAVALA
RAFAEL VALENCIA
LINA BAKER
Santa Ana’s
Golden Boy
6
el Don Santa Ana College · October 2019
From the opening bell of the fi rst round,
both boxers stood in the middle of the ring,
exchanging punches, neither fl inching from
their heavy blows. A battle of wills mixed
with machismo had erupted at Carson’s
Dignity Health Sports Park between Ronny
Rios and undefeated fi ghter Diego De La
Hoya.
During the sixth round on that hot July
night earlier this year, the Santa Ana native
slammed a left hook into De La Hoya’s
body. Ronnie quickly followed with a
right uppercut, fl ooring him. De La Hoya
struggled to get off the canvas, but he was
done. The fi ght was over. Nobody expected
him to win, but Rios was victorious.
Raising both hands in triumph, Ronny was
now the North American Boxing Federation’s
Gold Champion.
Less than two years ago, Rios lost his
shot at the World Boxing Council title to
Mexico’s undefeated Super Bantam World
Champ Ray Vargas. The match went to the
scorecards and Vargas came out the victor.
Ronny was ready to quit.
“I wanted to crawl under a rock,” Rios says.
“You know that commercial by Southwest
Airlines? ‘Wanna get away?’ That was me. I
wanted to get as far away [from boxing] as
possible. I didn’t want to see a gym, gloves,
weights. I was done,” said Rios.
Ronny is no stranger to the “underdog”
story. Growing up in the rough Delhi
neighborhood, he was exposed to the drug
and gang violence so prevalent in the barrios
of Santa Ana. Unlike others that were sucked
into the gang life, Rios never had an interest
in it. He had his mindset of fi ghting his way
out with his fi sts.
“My uncle was a boxaholic. He had boxing
magazines scattered everywhere I looked,”
Rios says. “I never got into that gang lifestyle.
I’m not trying to make it seem tough, but a
lot of the friends I grew up with are in jail,
and some are dead. That was just the life,”
Rios said.
Now a father and aware of the struggle
boys face in the city, he knows that there’s a
better way out. Rios and others in the local
fi ght community dedicate their time at the
TKO Boxing Club to help kids that want to
break out of the stereotypical thug life cycle
for which Santa Ana is known.
Ronny and TKO Boxing Club host an event
every year at Original Mike’s, in Downtown
Santa Ana to raise money and buy new
equipment for young fi ghters.
Rios trains fi ve to six days a week in
preparation for his Staple Center fi ght on
Nov. 9 against Colombian fi ghter Hugo
Berrio. He hopes that a victory will lead to
another shot at a world title.
“It’s not over. I’m not done. Not by a long
shot. I still have a lot of fi ght in me.”
el Don Santa Ana College · October 2019
7