PHONETOOL

Undefeated World Boxing Association (WBA) lightweight champion “Bam Bam” Brandon Rios and two-time world title challenger and Top-Five-rated contender Urbano Antillon spent more time talking to each other than members of the media on Tuesday, but it didn’t seem to bother anyone attending the kickoff press conference for the July 9 showdown at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., and televised LIVE on SHOWTIME, beginning at 10 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast.)

Just moments after being seated on the dais – and about five feet apart – at the downtown Wilshire Grand Hotel, Rios and Antillon started in on each other, and didn’t stop until Antillon was about to leave the building with Rios shouting at him to, “Get out of my life and get out of this hotel!”

Rios (27-0-1, 19 KOs) said after the contentious and emotionally charged press conference that Antillon (28-2, 20 KOs) got personal and he didn’t like it one bit. “I’m a clown and I joke around a lot but this guy really gets under my skin and it’s not going to affect me in the ring,” he said. “If anything, it’s going to help me. He’s opening his big (expletive) mouth and talking about my wife. You don’t mention my family. I didn’t talk about his family.

“He made it personal. He named my wife and brought my family into it. And now he’s going to pay.”

Both Southern California fighters – Rios is from the north of L.A. in Oxnard and Antillon just a bit to the south in Maywood — had to be separated at the podium after their faceoff photos, which led Top Rank President and CEO Bob Arum to say, “Remember, you don’t get paid to fight outside of the ring. I’m getting out of here but just remember I only pay for fights inside the ring.”

The co-main event will feature former International Boxing Federation (IBF) welterweight champion Kermit Cintron and Carlos Molina in a 10-round junior middleweight fight.

Rios and Antillon were supposed to have met 13 months ago before a Rios injury halted the fight.

Also introduced at the press conference was three-time University of Notre Dame champion Mike Lee and Mercito “No Mercy” Gesta, an unbeaten lightweight from the Philippines who will make his promotional debut with Top Rank on July 9.

Here’s what the principals had to say

BOB ARUM:

“I’m predicting the main event to be the Fight of the Year because Brandon and Urbano only know how to give crowd pleasing fights and it should really be sensational.

“SHOWTIME does a tremendous job televising fights. They are doing fights that have great, great crowd appeal. The fight they had on Saturday (Super Six Semifinal) had an enormous rating and we expect an enormous rating on this fight too.”

BRANDON RIOS:

“On July 9th I will knock (Antillon) out and show the world why I am the best 135-pound fighter in the world. That’s why I became the champion. That’s why I beat (Miguel) Acosta and you didn’t. I knocked him out and he knocked you out.

“On July 9th you’re going to get more than knocked out. Your career is going to be done and you will never fight for a title again. I promise you that and I don’t break my promises.

“This is the first fight where I’m using a strength and conditioning coach and I feel great. This guy sitting next to me will never fight for a world title again. He will never fight again period. If Acosta wasn’t a test, then why did he knock you out? Answer the question. Why did he knock you out?

“I sparred 17 rounds yesterday and I felt great. I hit way harder than anyone he’s ever fought. I’m hungry and I want it more than anything. It’s my belt. I became a world champion for some reason and I’m going to keep it. Defending my title, that’s why I wanted this guy because they say he’s tough. I didn’t want to go the easy route. I want to show everyone I’m the man and I’m the best. This guy’s just playing with fire and he’s going to get burned. He’s just burning.”

ROBERT GARCIA, Rios’ trainer:

“Good thing this fight didn’t happen a year ago because now we’re defending. We’re going to be ready and (Urbano) knows he better be ready. I know I have the champion. Everybody better come out to Carson on July 9 because this is going to be a war.”

URBANO ANTILLON:

“I just have to say that the third time’s a charm, I guess. I’ve fought for a world title twice before and I’m going to win it on my third try. We’re two fighters who come forward so I know it’s going to be a good fight. We’re both hard-headed and don’t like to back down. On July 9 Maywood is going to be champion.

“We were sitting down and he started talking. It is what it is. I don’t care if it’s heated up there.

“It’s a bigger stage now. He won the title and I had a great fight with (Humberto) Soto. There’s more anticipation for this fight now and it’s a bigger fight than it would have been a year ago.

“I’ve been with Abel (Sanchez) for a year now and this is my third fight with him. If we would have fought a year ago I would have only been with him a week so I feel a lot more comfortable with him now.”

ABEL SANCHEZ, Antillon’s trainer:

“As you can see what was supposed to have happened a year ago has simmered and is coming to a boil now. We are going to see a great fight on July 9 and I hope Brandon knows that he’s in for a tough fight and come the 9th he’s going to be knocked out.”

MIKE LEE, three-time Notre Dame champion:

“I want to thank all the Team Lee supporters out there. I train with Ronnie Shields who trains Kermit Cintron in Houston and I was out here last year and in the corner for his fight and have seen the venue. It’s a great place to hold a fight and I’m just really excited to be a part of this card.”

Brandon Rios (27-0-1, 20 KOs), who claimed a title in a rousing slugfest and comeback 10th-round knockout victory of Miguel Acosta on Feb. 26, is being lined up to make his first defense against Urbano Antillon on July 9 in a Showtime main event.

Humerto Soto-Antillon II was supposed to take place on the Manny Pacquiao-Shane Mosley undercard May 7 but Soto pulled out and left Top Rank after allegations that he is owed more than $1.2 million . So Top Rank decided to offer Antillon a shot at Rios.

Kermit Cintron, a former welterweight titlist who recently signed with Top Rank will fight in the televised undercard in his first bout since his aborted fight against Paul Williams. In that fight, Cintron fell out of the ring and did not continue, resulting in a fourth-round technical decision loss.



Former welterweight titlist Kermit Cintron, idle since his bizarre loss to Paul Williams last May, will return to face Carlos Molina in a junior middleweight fight July 9,

The scheduled 10-round bout, which will be contested at a maximum weight of 152 pounds, will open the Showtime telecast headlined by lightweight titlist Brandon Rios' first defense against Urbano Antillon in a matchup of hard-charging brawlers.

"It's not signed, but it's all agreed to," Moretti said of Cintron-Molina. "It's Mexico versus Puerto Rico, and that is always a great rivalry in boxing. The winner is going to get a big fight."

Cintron (32-3-1, 28 KOs) will be returning to the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., the same venue where he lost a four-round technical decision to Williams. After their feet got tangled in the fourth round, Cintron tripped and fell out of the ring; some say he launched himself. He came to rest on the ground outside of the ring and made no attempt to try to continue, although he did not appear injured. The fight was stopped and sent to the scorecard for a technical decision. Cintron was roundly criticized after the fight by many who believed he quit.

Cintron, 31, who was born in Puerto Rico but grew up in Reading, Pa., won a welterweight title in 2006 and made two successful defenses before losing it via sixth-round knockout in 2008 to Antonio Margarito, who had also stopped Cintron in the fifth round of a 2005 welterweight title bout.

Molina (18-4-2, 6 KOs), 27, a native of Mexico based in Chicago, has not lost since 2006, going 10-0-1 in his last 11 bouts. Promotional problems with Don King, who no longer promotes him, kept Molina on the shelf for nearly two years. But he returned March 25 to fight to a 10-round draw with heralded and heavily favored former Cuban amateur star Erislandy Lara on ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights."

Molina returned just one month later, getting the call to fill in on ESPN2 when the main event fell out at the last minute, and he scored an impressive seventh-round TKO of Allen Conyers.

The strong performances in those two recent fights led to the opportunity against Cintron, Moretti said.

"Molina is on a little bit of a roll with the draw over Lara and the win over Conyers," Moretti said. "A lot of people thought he beat Lara. You have a highly motivated Molina and a Cintron, who has to beat someone like this to get back to where he wants to be at 147 or 154 pounds. I hate the cliche of it being called a crossroads fight, but it really is."

A Cintron victory would likely put him back in the mix for a much bigger fight at welterweight or junior middleweight.

"He has the ability to fight at 147 or 154, so if he wins, Cintron puts himself into play for a lot of different fights," said Moretti, noting that he could eventually face junior middleweight titleholders Miguel Cotto or Sergiy Dzinziruk. "There are a lot of names out there where if he wins, he can find himself another fight on premium cable."