Tim Bradley vs. Brandon Rios fight could be without WBO title on line

By Boxing News - 09/09/2015 - Comments

rios55By Dan Ambrose: Top Rank will need to work out a deal with #1 WBO 147lb contender Sadam Ali (22-0, 13 KOs) for a step aside payment so that the November 7th fight between Top Rank fighters WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (32-1-1, 12 KOs) and #3 WBO Brandon Rios (33-2-1, 24 KOs) will have Bradley’s WBO title on the line when the two of them square off at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Ali, who is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, has no interest in stepping aside to wait for the Bradley-Rios fight to take place before he gets his title shot. He just wants to fight Bradley right now.

If Ali fails to take a step aside payment, then the Bradley vs. Rios fight will still take place, but without the WBO title on the line. It’s unclear if the World Boxing Organization will strip Bradley of his title or not. Sanctioning bodies sometimes makes these moves when a champion opts to take a non-title fight rather than face their mandatory challenger. My guess is the WBO will let Bradley hold onto his title rather than stripping him of the strap.

It’s bad deal for Ali though, because he would be forced to wait without getting a step aside payment. If the Bradley-Rios fight is going to take place whether Ali likes or not, he might as well get the step aside payment, as long as he doesn’t have to fight one of Top Rank’s other fighters as part of the agreement.

There was talk of Ali stepping aside for the Bradley-Rios fight, and then facing Top Rank fighter Jessie Vargas for the WBO interim welterweight title. The winner of the Ali-Vargas fight would then face the winner of the Bradley-Rios fight. That’s a bad deal for Ali, because it would put one more hoop in front of him before he would get an eventual shot at the WBO strap. Ali is already guaranteed that shot right now without having to fight Vargas for the interim WBO title. If Ali were to say yes to fighting Vargas first, he would be doing Top Rank a big favor, because it would be giving them a chance to line up one of their own fighters to face the winner of the Bradley-Rios fight rather than the Golden Boy promoted Ali.

“We’re confident it will all work out in the end and all parties will be satisfied,” Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti told ESPN.com.

If Moretti is confident, then it must mean that he feels that Ali will agree to a step aside payment. But if he doesn’t agree to it then we’re going to see the Bradley vs. Rios fight go ahead without any title on the line.

Rios, 29, doesn’t care whether Bradley’s WBO title is on the line or not. He just wants to fight because Top Rank hasn’t had him in action since his win over Mike Alvarado in January of this year. Rios wanted to fight IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook in a fight that would have taken place on September 12th, but Top Rank couldn’t put the fight together.

There have been other offers to Rios, but nothing that was interesting enough for him to take it. Rios wants to beat Bradley, and then move forward with his career. Even if Rios beats Bradley in a non-title fight, it would push Rios up higher in the WBO’s rankings and put him in line to fight the winner of the Bradley-Ali fight. Rios would already have an edge over Bradley from having beaten him once before.

“As long as I get a fight, I don’t care,” Rios said to ESPN.com. “It’s great to be fighting for a title but I don’t really care. Either way I will train my ass off and take it as a title fight because Bradley is a legit fighter and he will come to fight.”



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