Brandon Rios vs. Humberto Soto results: Soto outlasts Rios to take unanimous decision in Mexico

Although they weren't what they used to be, Humberto Soto and Brandon Rios still managed to deliver an entertaining clash at junior middleweight Saturday. The 38-year-old Soto (69-9-2) managed his energy better than Rios did his, picked off the aggressor with crisp combinations and stole the rounds when it mattered to take home a unanimous decision victory in the main event on DAZN at the Municipal Auditorium in Tijuana, Mexico.

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Soto's best years may be behind him but the cagey veteran demonstrated enough grit to deal with his aging body that wore down as the fight went on. Rios never had an alternate plan as he plowed forward in hopes of wearing down Soto and eventually steamrolling his way to victory. Instead, Soto banked the early rounds with activity and movement before managing his gas tank late by picking his spots and exploding in the final seconds of each round. 

Soto started off quickly in the early going and surprised Rios with his aggressive approach. He landed numerous combinations while sinking punches into the torso of "Bam Bam." Rios is six years Soto's junior, but he was unable to use that difference to his advantage. It was clear by the middle rounds that Soto was wearing down, but Rios was unable to do anything with it. 

Rios (35-5-1) kept pressing forward but he, too, was fatigued courtesy of Soto's body work and thus struggled to take advantage of the times Soto attempted to collect his breath. Soto may not have ever hurt Rios, but the clean and crisp punching impressed the judges enough to produce scores of 119-111, 118-112 and 118-112.

Here's how it all went down.

Brandon Rios vs. Humberto Soto results

Humberto Soto outlasts Brandon Rios to earn unanimous decision

11:42 p.m.: The judges saw this one wider than we did with scores of 119-111, 118-112 and 118-112. Soto was simply craftier on this night and turned Rios' aggression against him. 

Round 12 (11:37 p.m.): Rios plows forward and Soto goes right to the body with hooks. Rios barrels ahead yet is unable to gain any momentum. As soon as they break, Soto peels off a three-punch combination. If the plan was to wear Soto down, it probably didn't include Rios dealing with his own level of fatigue. Soto absorbs Rios' aggression and picks him off with another combination. With 10 seconds left, Soto does it again and cracks off a final combination to steal the round along with the fight. 10-9, Soto (117-111, Soto). 

Round 11 (11:32 p.m.): Rios needs a knockout on my scorecard but hasn't done anything to get him closer to that goal with two rounds left. Soto is playing it smart and tying up "Bam Bam" when he gets too close. Soto hasn't thrown many punches in this round but Rios just isn't taking full advantage of the opportunity. Soto is clearly exhausted and taking the round off. Rios takes the 11th but he's going to need a knockout at this point. 10-9, Rios (107-102, Soto)

Round 10 (11:28 p.m.): Rios has joined Soto in the exhaustion category but Soto has managed his fatigue much better than Rios as he continues to pick his spots and land the cleaner punches. With 10 seconds to go, Soto again fires a burst of punches in Rios' direction. Many of them land and it's the most significant moment of the round. 10-9, Soto (98-92, Soto). 

Round 9 (11:24 p.m.): Soto is clearly tired but he's far enough ahead on my scorecard that he simply needs to remain upright to win this fight. The movement that was there earlier from Soto is almost nonexistent. Still, Soto is finding ways to let his hands go enough to land telling blows. Rios keeps coming forward and is landing to the body and head. It's a close round but Rios scores with several hooks to the head while Soto languishes on the ropes. 10-9, Rios (88-83, Soto).

Round 8 (11:20 p.m.): Rios presses forward again. The issue is that Rios is smothering his own shots and it's difficult for the judges to see what is landing clean. Meanwhile, Soto creates space and lands flush for everybody to see. Soto with an uppercut that lifts Rios' head into the sky. It doesn't stop Rios from coming forward but it certainly is putting him behind the 8-ball. As tired as he is, Soto is finding ways to win this fight. 10-9, Soto (79-73, Soto).

Round 7 (11:16 p.m.): Soto has admitted to his corner that he is tired. There's still half a fight left. He's going to have to suck it up. Soto is picking his spots well while Rios isn't taking advantage of Soto taking a breath. Short right hand for Soto lands. He's not hurting Rios but he's racking up points. 10-9, Soto (69-64, Soto).

Round 6 (11:12 p.m.): Rios and his pressure are now getting to Soto. Rios clocks Soto with a pair of right hands. Soto takes a deep breath and fires off a combination just to show that there's still life in him. Soto with a combination but he's clearly fighting in spots and looking to explode. Rios is outworking Soto in close quarters now. Soto still finding places to pop off a crisp combination. Soto lands a big uppercut and cuts loose a lively combination to steal the round. 10-9, Soto (59-55, Soto).

Round 5 (11:08 p.m.): Rios has yet to alter his strategy in hopes of wearing Soto down. He's having a good round thus far. Those explosive exchanges from Soto are not coming off as quickly. He's slowing down or taking a round off. Either way, Rios has taken this round due to his pressure and ability to score on the inside. 10-9, Rios (49-46, Soto). 

Round 4 (11:01 p.m.): Soto is banking quite a few shots to the body on Rios in hopes of slowing down his advances. With a minute to go, Soto turns Rios' back to the ropes and assaults him with power shots. With 10 seconds left, Soto cracks Rios with a pair of left hooks. Rios needs to land something big in order to alter the course of this fight. 10-9, Soto (40-36, Soto).

Round 3 (10:59 p.m.): Rios still seems flat while Soto is ramping up the activity. Nobody expected this kind of output from Soto from the outset. He's fighting an excellent fight thus far. It will be interesting to see if he can keep up the activity given his 38 years of age. Rios tries to press forward but Soto continues to fend off his advances with well-placed shots to the body and head. 10-9, Soto (30-27, Soto).

Round 2 (10:55 p.m.): Rios is bulling his way forward but Soto is picking him off; however, Rios is starting to find a home for the right hand and landing some short power shots. Soto is doing a great job holding his ground and varying his attack. Soto smacks Rios with a sweeping left hook. Rios takes it well but he's taking a lot of power shots from Soto early in the fight. Soto closes the round by smashing Rios with a left hand. Great action after two. 10-9, Soto (20-18, Soto).  

Round 1 (10:51 p.m): Soto landing big shots early and isn't going to allow Rios to be the bully early on. Rios looks sluggish but has been a slow starter in the past. Soto putting together combinations to the head and body well while Rios is struggling to get in any offense. Soto is giving "Bam Bam" hell. 10-9, Soto. 

10:41 p.m.: We're finally at the main event. What does Brandon Rios have left? Will his brand of aggression carry him through despite the wars he has been through? Or will Soto and his ability to adjust offset his age and help him pull off the upset? The time is upon us. 

10:30 p.m.: A workhorse effort by Urbina, who took home a unanimous decision victory against Rodrigue with scores of 59-55, 60-54 and 60-54. An entertaining bout but pretty one-sided as Urbina runs her unbeaten record to 9-0.

10:08 p.m.: Due to the nature of the Tanajara-Delgado finish, we're going to get a swing bout before Rios and Soto clash. Judith Rodriguez (8-8) will take on Sulem Urbina (8-0).

Hector Tanajara defeats Ivan Delgado by technical decision after clash of heads halts fight 

9:54 p.m.: With the fight stopped after four rounds, we go to the scorecards. Scores were all in favor of Tanajara as the judges had the fight 40-36, 40-36 and 40-36. The confusing thing is that it is impossible to score the fight this way after a point was deducted by Delgado for the clash of heads. Who knows what's going on in Mexico? At least the right fighter won. 

9:48 p.m.: This is bizarre. The fight has been stopped. The doctor has suggested that Tanajara can't continue because of the cut on his forehead. It doesn't appear to be that bad, but here we are. 

9:42 p.m.: Tanajara has done a great job of maintaining his distance but Delgado is inching closer and closer with his front foot. He's landed several short shots but Tanajara is maintaining control. A clash of heads has opened up a cut on Tanajara that is spilling blood. At the start of the fourth round, a point is taken away from Delgado for supposedly head-butting Tanajara on purpose. That was strange. 

9:34 p.m.: The Municipal Auditorium Fausto Gutierrez Moreno is filling up quite nicely as we inch closer to the main event. The first round saw Tanajara use his height and reach to keep Delgado at bay. Tanajara is trained by Robert Garcia, who is also in the middle of preparing his younger brother Mikey for his PPV fight against Errol Spence Jr. later this month. 

9:26 p.m.: We're kicking off with the co-main event, Hector Tanajara Jr. vs. Ivan Delgado in lightweight action.Tanajara holds an unbeaten record of 16-0 with five knockouts, while Delgado sits at 13-1-2 with six KOs. 

9:22 p.m.: Joel Cordova and Jose Quiniro put together a thrilling all-action bout but Cordova would be the man who came out on top with a split-decision win that improves his record to 8-4-2. Quiniro did everything he could but fell to 20-3-3 despite having some great rounds of action. 

Brandon Rios vs. Humberto Soto fight card