Boxing notes: Brandon Rios’ next move

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Southern California has another star fighter following Saturday night’s showing by Oxnard’s Brandon Rios.

The 24-year-old unbeaten world lightweight champion kept his fists flying throughout his third-round TKO triumph over Maywood’s gritty Urbano Antillon at Home Depot Center, positioning himself for a jump to boxing‘s deepest division (junior-welterweight) and perhaps a 2013 battle against Manny Pacquiao, according to both fighters’ promoter, Bob Arum.

‘Everyone wants to see Brandon now,’ Arum said.

Rios’ next bout will be his second lightweight title defense, Arum said, most likely against Australia’s Michael Katsidis, who has fought hard but lost recent battles against Juan Manuel Marquez and Robert Guerrero.

Arum said if Marquez puts on a strong showing but loses to Pacquiao in November, a Rios-Marquez bout is possible in the first quarter of 2012, with the move to 140 pounds following.

-- A Katsidis bout would continue the de-icing of relations between Arum’s Top Rank promotion company and Oscar De La Hoya‘s Golden Boy Promotions. The companies stopped making fights following the Pacquiao-Ricky Hatton bout in May 2009, with De La Hoya and his business partner, Richard Schaefer, being sued by Pacquiao in connection with alleged defamatory statements about the Filipino superstar possibly engaging in performance-enhancing-drug use. That lawsuit was settled last month.

Now, the first Top Rank-Golden Boy card has been set, with Golden Boy’s Daniel Ponce De Leon scheduled to fight Top Rank’s world featherweight champion, Yuriorkis Gamboa, Sept. 10 in Atlantic City, N.J.

There’s been talk another deal is in the works, with Golden Boy’s Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez tabbed to fight at Staples Center Sept. 17 against Top Rank’s Alfonso Gomez.

It’s a fluid situation. Arum said he hasn’t been contacted about Gomez, and a Staples Center official said he’s still in the process of ‘clearing the date’ for the ‘Canelo’ world super-welterweight title bout that would be shown on HBO’s pay-per-view broadcast of the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Victor Ortiz bout at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

--The manager for Coachella Valley junior-welterweight Timothy Bradley said Saturday night that he expects news to break this week about the fighter’s future, which is in promotional limbo.

Bradley promoter Gary Shaw is seeking to collect money he would have gathered if Bradley had fought Amir Khan July 23 in Las Vegas. Bradley declined to accept the bout.

There’s a possibility another promoter -- such as Arum -- will front a settlement figure for Bradley to pay off Shaw, allowing Bradley to defend his World Boxing Council belt on the Pacquiao-Marquez card in November.

Arum declined to discuss the matter. Bradley manager Cameron Dunkin said he’s received a letter from the WBC asking what Bradley’s intentions are.

Bradley has been discussed as Pacquiao’s next opponent if another effort to stage a Pacquiao-Mayweather bout fails.

ALSO:

Photos: Wladimir Klitschko vs. David Haye

Boxer Victor Ortiz is starting to demand respect

-- Lance Pugmire