WHITE PLAINS — Even before Joey Rios climbed through the ropes last night to brawl with Larry Gonzales, both he and his camp knew the fight would be his most difficult yet. After all, Gonzales won a National Golden Gloves title in 2002. What no one knew, however, was just how tough it would end up becoming.

Did Rios struggle on the way to his unanimous-decision victory at the County Center? No, not particularly. But the result didn't come easily, not after Rios was forced to put the finishing touches on his preparation with a heavy heart.

Rios, the still-undefeated light welterweight from the Bronx, won his bout with Gonzales just nine days after learning of the death of former lightweight world champion Agapito Sanchez — a man who just happened to be among Rios' best friends.

As an avid reader of all things boxing, Rios found his way onto fightnews.com on Nov. 14. It was there he first read about the death of Sanchez, who was shot and killed in the Dominican Republic, his homeland.

Rios (12-0) and Sanchez had trained and sparred together in the Bronx, so the loss hit Rios hard. When he found out, he called trainer Angel Alejandro immediately and was soon on the phone with Sanchez's brother.

Rios and Sanchez were so close that Sanchez promised to join Rios at last Thursday's press conference to announce the County Center card. Of course, Sanchez never made it.

"Being his training partner, I felt it personally," Rios said. "But this is boxing. This is a warrior sport. I did what he would've wanted me to do and kept fighting."

Still, Rios couldn't train like normal. He told Alejandro they had to find another gym for him to spar in as the match with Gonzales approached.

Rios simply couldn't concentrate with all those photos of Sanchez lining the Bronxchester Boxing Club's walls, but he made it to last night prepared.

Last night, fans waved Dominican flags that said "RIP Agapito" on them. There also was a banner reading "In Loving Memory of Agapito Sanchez" hanging from the edge of the balcony in the County Center, covering one of the rectangular scoreboards used for high school basketball games. The left side of the banner included a screened-on photo of Rios and Sanchez side by side.

In his first fight back since elbow surgery after a fight in May, Rios started sharp. He later held off a comeback by Gonzales, who certainly proved he was game.

With a series of head-butts and elbows, Gonzales gave Rios the first bad cut of his career. But after picking up an emotional win, that didn't matter. Rios can — and will — soldier on.

Note: The heavyweight debut of Tony Grano, who now trains in White Plains, was impressive. He knocked down Ruben Bracera of the Bronx twice, the second of which resulted in a second-round TKO. Ann Marie Saccurato, also of White Plains, quickly disposed of Tanya Gallegos with a first-round TKO.

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