CARSON, Calif. (AP) — Whenever Brandon Rios left sunny Ventura County and traveled home to Garden City, Kan., his trainer and manager feared every phone call.
They were certain the rising lightweight would find trouble around his childhood friends and their bad influences. Rios already has done several short jail stretches for everything from a bar fight to drunk driving, and trainer Robert Garcia constantly wondered whether the next infraction would be life-changing.
But Rios hasn’t been back to Kansas in nearly two years, not even to see his two children. He’s finally focused on a career that reaches a new peak Saturday night at Home Depot Center.
Rios (27-0-1, 19 KOs) takes on Urbano Antillon (28-2, 20 KOs) in a lightweight title fight between two brawlers who don’t like to box.
