Yathomas Riley

Bio Data

Yathomas Riley began boxing in 2003.  The sport seemed to come natural to Riley and in a very limited amount of time Riley began impressing anyone and everyone who saw him fight.  Riley had a very successful amateur career which was highlighted by winning a National PAL Championship, a National Golden Gloves Championship, Pan-Am and U.S. National Box offs, and also competing at the U.S. Olympic Trials.

Riley wanted to turn pro, but wanted to take the next step with a promoter he could not only trust and feel comfortable working with, but also one that he knew would be able to get him to the places he wanted to be.  Riley asked his friend Glen Johnson for advice and Johnson immediately brought him to meet Joe DeGuardia and his team at Star Boxing.  DeGuardia and Riley seemed to immediately establish a relationship and DeGuardia, before he knew, it had one of the hottest amateur prospects on his roster.

Riley turned pro on February 15^th 2008 on the undercard of the Delvin Rodriguez v Troy Browning fight.  DeGuardia couldn’t have been more impressed with his new acquisition as Riley dished out four rounds of complete domination and punishment until finally the ref had seen enough and called a halt to the contest.  Although Riley’s opponent had only one fight prior this, it was hard to find any flaws in anything that Yathomas did.

On August 6th 2008, on the undercard of the Ali Oubaali vs. Chris Fernandez ESPN2 "Wednesday Night Fights" telecast Riley took on the Bronx's Phil Hannah in Hannah's pro debut. Riley came out firing from the opening bell and began shooting out a stiff jab that kept his opponent off balance.  When Riley got in close enough he began ripping devastating body shots that visibly were hurting Hannah.  Halfway through the first a big straight left hand from the southpaw Riley wobbled Hannah and Hannah began retreating.  Riley calmly moved in and landed a beautiful straight left hand followed by a left hook that dropped Hannah.  Hannah got back up at the count of eight but the end was near as Riley began unloading on the overmatched Hannah as soon as the bout resumed.  Another vicious left hand from Riley landed flush on the cheek of Hannah which forced him to  take a knee to avoid further punishment.  Hannah’s corner had seen enough and decided to throw in the towel.  Official stoppage time was 2:30 of the very first round.  With the victory Riley improved to 2-0, 2KO’s while Hannah fell to 0-1.

Riley looked sensational again and although it was only his second professional fight, his skills go far beyond that.  “I felt great tonight,” said Yathomas following the fight.  “The game plan coming in was to work the body and work off my jab to set up my bigger shots.  I hit him with a big body shot and I could see that he wouldn’t be able to handle my power and it was only a matter of time till I put him away.  I want to thank my promoter Joe DeGuardia at Star Boxing and the rest of my team that has been working with me.  I also want to thank my fans that have come here to support me.  I look forward to fighting again very soon, and look to continue winning, and continuing to impress and excite my fans and the rest of the boxing world.” 

On September 5th, 2008 Riley (3- 0,2KO) dropped his opponent three times en route to a dominating four round unanimous decision over Zeferino Albino (3-8-2, 1KO).  Riley had his opponent reeling throughout as he landed left hand bombs to the head of his opponent dropping him twice in the first and once more in the second.  Riley landed a huge left hand that rocked his opponent just as the bell sounded to end the fight, capping off his impressive and dominating performance.

On December 6th, Riley (4-0, 3KO) closed out his first full year as a professional with another win and another knockout, stopping Norman Johnson (1-4) at 2:06 of the very first round at the Bette Rae Thomas Rec Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina.

On January 14th 2009 Riley improved to (5-0, 3KO) after punishing Evjeny Stardubstev (0-1) over four rounds in front of his hometown fans at the Hardrock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Flordida.

Riley stuck to his gameplan, "pressure breaks pipes", in going right after Stardubstev from the opening bell. Riley immediately begin landing heavy crushing blows with both hands to his opponents body and head eventually dropping Stardubstev in the second round with a barrage of punches. Stardubstev didn't go down again but was thoroughly outworked for the remainder of the fight.

On July 16th, 2009 Riley improved to 6-0, 4KO with a second round destruction over Philadelphia's Andre Hemphill.

Riley punished Hemphill for most of the first, using a vicious attack to both the body and head.

In the second Riley unloaded a huge left uppercut that sent Hemphill down face first. Hemphill attempted to get to his feet but was in absolutely no condition to continue. Official time of the stoppage was 53 seconds of the second round.  CLICK HERE TO SEE THE KNOCKOUT.

On August 1st, 2009 Riley celebrated his 27th birthday in fashion, by picking up his second impressive knockout victory in less then three weeks by knocking out veteran Tiwon Taylor (26-16-1, 19KO) at 2:59 of the very first round.

Riley was in command throughout the first, dropping Taylor midway through the round. Just as the bell was to sound to end the first a huge straight right sent Taylor down again, this time hard. Although the round was ending the stoppage was a smart decision. It was a very impressive victory for the light heavyweight prospect Riley who improved his record to 7-0, 5KO.

April 2nd, 2010, Riley got his 2010 off to a good start as he completely annihilated Walter Foster, dropping him three times, the third time coming in the 2nd from a vicious left hook that put Foster down for several minutes.

With the win Riley improved to 8-0, 6KO while Foster dropped to 4-2-1, 4KO.

Riley is certainly one to look out for in the coming years, as he seems to have all the tools to become a serious force in the Light Heavyweight Division.  Quick hands, good footwork, big frame, and knockout power, if everything goes as planned the boxing world will be seeing Yathomas Riley at the top of the Light Heavyweight divison much sooner than later.