Pacquiao to pick from Bradley, Khan and Crawford, says Arum

1-008_Manny_PacquiaoBy Chris Williams: Top Rank promoter Bob Arum says that Manny Pacquiao will sit down and watch video of Tim Bradley’s fight against Brandon Rios, as well as recent fights from Amir Khan and Terence Crawford to make a selection of which fighter he would like to face next in what could be the final fight of Pacquiao’s career on April 9th.

Arum isn’t saying who he personally wants Pacquiao’s to fight next, but some boxing fans think that Arum wants/needs Pacquiao tight Crawford in order to increase his value to his Top Rank stable in the same way that Rios’ value was increased after his fight against Pacquiao two years ago.

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Rios: I’ve been in too many wars; it’s time to retire

rios100By Dan Ambrose: Former WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios (33-3-1, 24 KOs) says he’s retiring from boxing after his 9th round knockout loss to WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley (33-1-1, 13 KOs).

At 29, Rios says his body isn’t say anymore due to him being out of the ring for the past eight months, and he feels he’s had too many wars in the ring during his 11-year pro career.

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Arum: Pacquiao will watch tape of Bradley’s win and decide if he wants a third fight

YouTube video

By Chris Williams: Top Rank promoter Bob Arum says his fighter Manny Pacquiao will be sitting down to watch tape of WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley’s 9th round knockout win over Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios (33-3-1, 24 KOs) to make a decision whether he’ll fight him or not on April 9th next year, according to Dan Rafael.

Earlier tonight, fighting in front of a decent but far from great crowd of 5,106 fans, Bradley made easy work of beating an out of shape 170 pound Rios in knocking him down twice in a fight televised on HBO Championship Boxing from the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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Bradley destroys Rios; Lomachenko defeats Koasicha – results

bradley000By Jim Dower: WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley (33-1-1, 13 KOs) stopped an over-matched Brandon Rios (33-3-1, 24 KOs) in the 9th round on Saturday night at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Bradley knocked the 170lb Rios down twice with body shots in the 9th to get the stoppage. Rios looked tired, embarrassed and hurt ad the fight was halted by referee Tony Weeks at 2:49 of the 9th.

Rios said immediately after the fight that he plans on retiring from the sport. As bad as Rios looked tonight, you can’t blame him. He had been out of action for 10 months going into tonight’s fight, and he sure looked like it.

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Bradley’s WBO title on the line against Rios tonight

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQeLLQBKuBQ&feature=youtu.be

By Dan Ambrose: Timothy Bradley (32-1-1, 12 KOs) will have his WBO welterweight title on the line tonight for his fight against Brandon Rios (33-2-1, 24 KOs) at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. According to Fight News, the World Boxing Organization has decided to let the 32-year-old Bradley’s WBO title be up for grabs for the fight.

There was some confusion about whether the title would be on the line for the fight due to #1 WBO challenger Sadam Ali being the mandatory for the fight, and the one who was supposed to be getting the fight instead of Top Rank fighter Brandon Rips.

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Atlas confident Bradley will beat Rios

bradleyBy Tim Fletcher: Teddy Altas, an ESPN analyst and trainer for WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley (32-1-1, 12 KOs), feels very confident about the 32-year-old Bradley’s chances of success against Brandon Rios (33-2-1, 24 KOs) on Saturday night in their fight on HBO.

This is Atlas’s first fight as Bradley’s trainer, but he’s quite pleased with what he’s seen from Bradley during their 7-week training camp for this fight. Atlas said that Bradley followed all his instructions during the camp and proved to be a quick learner. Just how much Atlas needed to teach Bradley is unclear.

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Bradley vs. Rios winner has 90 days to fight Sadam Ali

rios11111By Tim Fletcher: The winner of this Saturday’s fight between WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley (32-1-1, 12 KOs) and Brandon Rios (33-2-1, 24 KOs) will have only three months [90 days] to fight #1 WBO mandatory challenger Sadam Ali (22-0 13 KOs), according to the World Boxing Organization. That’s not much time for the winner to heal up from what could be a very tough fight on Saturday night at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“Per WBO, Bradley-Rios is for Bradley’s title. Winner has 90 days to face Sadam Ali, who blew $100K step aside for same outcome. #boxing,” Dan Rafael said on his Twitter.

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Purses: Bradley $1.9M, Rios $800K, Lomachenko $750K, Koasicha $35K

rios466By Jim Dower: WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley (32-1-1, 12 KOs) will be getting the lion’s share of the revenue for Saturday’s fight against challenger Brandon Rios (33-2-1, 24 KOs) at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Bradley, 32, will be getting $1.9 million compared to Rios’ $800,000.

It’s unclear if those purses will be bumped up with other money. It’s not PPV, so it doesn’t look like there will be any other revenue the fighters get.

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Brandon Rios FINALLY makes weight at 147

YouTube video

By Dan Ambrose: After failing to make weight on his first attempt on the scale in coming in at 147.2lbs, Brandon Rios (33-2-1, 24 KOs) was finally able to hit the mark a little over a 40 minutes later in stripping nude to get to the 147lb limit for his fight on Saturday night against WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley (32-1-1, 12 KOs) at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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Rios 147.2, has 1 hour to lose .2lbs; Bradley 146

rios566By Dan Ambrose: A drained looking Brandon Rios (33-2-1, 24 KOs) weighed in at 147.2lbs at today’s weigh-in for his title shot against WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley (32-1-1, 12 KOs) on Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Rios, 29, now has exactly one hour to lose the .2lbs for him to be able to get a shot at Bradley’s WBO 147lb title.

For his part, Bradley weighed in at 146lbs and looked totally cut up and in excellent shape. Rios has looked drained all week long and he clearly has had a tough time making the 147lb limit for the fight. According to Dan Rafael, Rios’ promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank is “furious” about Rios not making weight for the fight.

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