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Mirco Cuello vs Sergio Rios Keys to Victory: Breaking down tactics of each fighter
Argentina’s Mirco Cuello clashes with another undefeated fighter in Mexico’s Sergio Rios as the two vie for the WBA interim featherweight world championship Friday at Martyrs of Benina Stadium in Benghazi, Libya, and live on DAZN.
Cuello (15-0, 12 KOs) hopes to build on the momentum of producing a riveting 10th round TKO of Christian Olivo in February. Rios (19-0, 7 KOs) is fresh off a first-round TKO of Gustavo Molina in May.
Will Cuello become the WBA interim featherweight world titleholder with another emphatic ending? Or will Rios make his 20th professional victory his biggest to date with an upset of the Argentinian?
With the stakes high, DAZN News analyzes the keys to victory, breaking down each fighter’s tactics along the way.
DAZNMirco Cuello’s Keys to Victory
Assert pressure behind the jab early
Mirco Cuello is at his best cutting the ring in half, forward fighting and pressuring with a steady flow of punches behind the jab.
That makes it imperative for the southpaw to assert the stick early and often so the rest of his offense can funnel through it.
Commit to the body
The unbeaten Argentinian rips the body with booming force as evidenced by the two late knockdowns he produced to stop Olivo in the 10th and final round of their fight in February.
What makes his left hook to the body special is how it's delivered with a low sweeping motion that gets under opponents' ribs.
He finished Olivo late with these shots, but committing to them early against Sergio Rios can eventually have Cuello reaching pay dirt by softening up the Mexican enough to batter him late.
Increase the output
As Cuello establishes the jab and starts to use it to walk Rios down, in addition to bringing along the body shots, the Argentinian must let his hands fly.
As he turns up his punch volume steadily, Cuello stands a great chance to overwhelm Rios and drown him out toward claiming the interim WBA title, forcing a shot against the August 16 winner of Nick Ball vs Sam Goodman.
Sergio Rios’ Keys to Victory
Set traps for Cuello and time counters
A weakness of Mirco Cuello’s fight game is how he abandons his guard sometimes, lowering it to his chest level.
Sergio Rios can bait Cuello into doing just that by throwing a feeling-out right jab to pepper or even graze the Argentinian with.
Rios setting traps with a light jab or feints could goad Cuello into throwing a shot that the Mexican could counter with time and precision.
The more he does this early, the more he will put Cuello on notice of his skills and potency.
Bang the body
Like Cuello, Rios can bang the body with crunching, unforgiving punches.
This activity could have Cuello lowering his guard even more as the rounds wane, carving out openings for Rios to unleash something more significant upstairs.
Unload the overhand left
Rios possesses a whiplashing overhand left which could be unloaded against Cuello in the regular stream of offense or as a counterpunch.
Either way, the punch can be a difference maker and possibly even the deciding factor toward Rios trying to snatch the interim WBA title.
Watch Itauma vs Whyte live on DAZN
You can watch Moses Itauma vs Dillian Whyte live on DAZN on August 16. More information is available here .
