The much-awaited bout between Timothy Bradley and Brandon Rios hit another snag but is still being pushed for November.
Bradley has been promoted as the welterweight champion by the WBO but the boxing body wanted him to take on the mandatory challenger, Sadam Ali.
But Timothy Bradley's promoter, Bob Arum's Top Rank, decided to push on with the Brandon Rios fight. It will be held on November 7 at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.
Now, the WBO wants Top Rank to negotiate with Ali's promoter, Golden Boy Promotions to settle a "step-aside" fee. However, it might not be just a money issue as Yahoo Sports reports.
"Ali doesn't appear to be willing to step aside and that will likely cost Bradley the opportunity to defend his title," Yahoo stated. "Nevertheless, Bradley will move on with the Rios fight and formally announce the showdown at a news conference on Sept. 16 at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles."
However, there is optimism that this issue would be settled as the relationship between Golden Boy and Top Rank has improved. Also, Ali is unlikely to refuse a free payday just to wait for another opportunity, according to Bad Left Hook.
"The general feeling is that Oscar and Bob will work out an arrangement for this to go forward as proposed," BLH stated. "For Sadam Ali, he could get a nice chunk of change and not even have to fight for it."
If an agreement is made, Bradley will be declared as a champion on a title defense. Whatever happens, the fight is on between the two welterweights who incidentally, were both recent Pacquiao victims.