It didn’t take long for Brandon Rios to get a new opponent after talks with the camp of Kell Brook failed to get any headway.
If all fall into place, the American brawler could end up facing Timothy Bradley, Jr. However, all these can only happen once Bradley clears the air on his last match with Jesse Vargas.
Bradley’s status is currently on hold pending the outcome of Vargas appeal regarding their last match.
Vargas and his camp have filed an appeal regarding the WBO order of not having a rematch between the two boxers after their previous bout ended in a controversial way.
To recall, Bradley was way ahead in points until the final seconds of the match when Vargas seemed to have hurt Desert Storm.
With the seconds counting down, referee Pat Russell stepped in and claimed that he mistook the last 10-second clapper as the final bell. This prevented Vargas from following up on his hit until the final bell rang.
The WBO had already announced that there would be no rematch but the Vargas has filed an appeal towards the decision. The camp is apparently seeking to nullify the loss and changed to a no-contest verdict. To date, the appeal is still pending.
As far as Rios is concerned, he is coming off failed talks with the Brook camp when both parties failed to come to terms.
This had to something to do with the rematch stipulation which the Rios camp were not amenable to. The rematch is seen as something that would deprive Rios from moving on to bigger fights and larger purses next year in case he wins over Kell Brook.
Rios has not fought since January where he won over Mike Alvarado who retired after the third round.
An exact date has yet to be agreed upon and chances are negotiations will stay in that phase until the air is cleared up on Bradley’s official status. However there is belief that the match will likely materialize this November 7, 2015.
On a related note, a possible undercard for the planned Rios vs. Bradley match is Filipino Flash Nonito Donaire facing featherweight title holder Scott Quigg.
Manager Cameron Dunkin is reportedly trying to get both fights to materialize. As far as Donaire is concerned, he believes that the Filipino boxer has a good chance against Quigg.
Both he and promoter Eddie Hearn are in active talks and the only thing remaining is the financial specifics.