Timothy Bradley vs Brandon Rios WBO Title Fight in Jeopardy?
The proposed battle this November between World Boxing Organization welterweight champion Timothy Bradley and former title holder "Bam Bam" Brandon Rios may not be close to reality, as there's still a huge obstacle on its fruition.
The big hurdle is the mandatory defense of the current champ against the undefeated Sadam Ali, noted Boxing Scene.
WBO president Francisco "Paco" Valcarcel clarified that the organization has not sealed the fight with its approval.
"(The) WBO hasn't sanctioned (Bradley vs. Rios) and won't until an agreement is reached with Golden Boy (Ali's promoter)," Valcarcel said.
A separate report from Boxing Scene noted that Bradley, who came out of a victory in June against Jessie Vargas via a unanimous decision, may be defending his crown this year against the mandatory challenger Ali (22-0, 13 KOs). He gained the crown after Floyd Mayweather Jr. failed to pay the sanctioning fees for his May 2 match with Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao.
However, Boxing Scene notes that Top Rank CEO Bob Arum is arranging the Bradley-Rios fight to happen in November or early December. The task should have been easy as the 83-year-old promoter handles both fighters, with only the financial part of the bout as the main issue before. HBO reportedly may not have enough budget to stage this exciting showdown, which Arum refuses to believe, especially after the network earned a lot from the Mayweather-Pacquiao megafight.
"I'm not going to be victim to their budget constraints, they'll find the money for a fight like that. I'm not concerned," Arum said.
"November 7th is a possible date, the 28th, or the first weekend of December. I don't care, whichever date they want. I want to make sure I have a building in Southern California for whatever date we do," the veteran promoter added.
Still, for the Bradley-Rios fight to take place, Arum must convince Golden Boy Promotions head Oscar De La Hoya to let his fighter, Ali, wait for another chance to take on the WBO belt from the winner of the said match. Boxing Scene noted that Top Rank should also be prepared to offer both Ali and Golden Boy a fair compensation to let the two boxers collide.
If the fight happens, Rios is expected to deliver his best to get a championship belt again.
"Everyone knows when they see a Brandon Rios fight, they're going to get a great show. I'm going to do what I do best and bring the fight out of him [Bradley]. I know Bradley's a warrior. He's going to fight like I fight," Rios told FightHype.
Subscribe to Latin Post!
Sign up for our free newsletter for the Latest coverage!
* This is a contributed article and this content does not necessarily represent the views of latinpost.com