St. Petersburg, FL (May 1, 2023) – Connor “The Kid” Coyle retained his NABA middleweight championship following a ten round beatdown of Argentina’s Christian Fabian Rios Saturday, April 29 at the Hilton Carillon in St. Petersburg, FL.
Headlining Reyes Fire Fist Boxing’s “Fire on the Bay,” Coyle had a strong opening round, landing hard jabs and thudding body shots. Supported by a loud cheering section, the Derry, Northern Ireland native delivered round after round, peppering Rios with clean punches. Rios was hurt on a few occasions but displayed a tremendous chin and finished the fight on his feet. Scores were 100-90 on all three scorecards.
With the victory, Coyle improves to 19-0 with 8 knockouts. Rios, who has only been stopped once, slips to 23-18-3 with 7 wins by KO.
“We knew he was a tough guy – he took David Lemieux and Esquiva Falcao the distance,” said Coyle. “I paced myself and landed well-placed punches. That was our gameplan coming into this fight. I did hit him with a lot of solid shots, so I’ve got to give Rios credit for how game he was.”
Coyle, the WBA’s #4 ranked middleweight, believes a showdown with #3 rated Austin “Ammo” Williams is on the horizon.
“We’re the most active middleweights in the rankings. There’s been talk of us fighting but nothing came to fruition so far. I believe he’s fighting again in June so if he handles business, we could hopefully fight in an eliminator or for a world title later this year.”
Coyle’s promoter, Jody Caliguire of Reyes Fire Fist Boxing Promotions, was pleased as well and also envisions a fight with Williams in the near future.
“Connor did a great job tonight – he battered Rios and won all ten rounds. Rios has been in with a ton of world class fighters and always goes the distance so kudos to him for his toughness. I anticipate Connor moving up in the WBA rankings and I know Williams is also ranked highly so we’re ready to make it happen for the number 1 contender spot or a vacant title if Erislandy Lara vacates.”
St. Petersburg’s Joseph Fernandez became the NABA junior welterweight champion with an emphatic fourth round stoppage of Marqus Bates. Bates got off to a solid start, but Fernandez rocked the Taunton, MA native with a head shot in round three.
In the fourth, Fernandez scored a hard knockdown via a picturesque left hook. Bates was game and made it back to his feet but was clearly shaken up. Fernandez closed the show moments later by rocking Bates, who was out on his feet when the fight was stopped at 1:41.
Fernandez’ professional ledger improves to 16-5-3 with 6 KO’s. Bates is 11-6 (8 KO’s).
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