Yuriorkis Gamboa, HBO back out of Brandon Rios fight April 14
HBO has followed Yuriorkis Gamboa’s lead and backed out of participating in the April 14 Brandon Rios fight at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
Promoter Bob Arum told The Times on Wednesday that his Top Rank company had filed a breach of contract lawsuit against Gamboa for pulling out of the scheduled bout that would pit the unbeaten featherweight champion against unbeaten ex-lightweight champ Rios at 135 pounds.
“Gamboa just said he wasn’t fighting,” Arum said. “The kid is crazy.”
HBO on Wednesday said it was pulling the date -- once described as its “lynchpin World Championship Boxing” show of the first half of the year -- off its calendar.
Arum said he was still proceeding with a fight for Oxnard’s Rios against Cuba’s interim World Boxing Assn. lightweight champion Richard Abril (17-2) at Mandalay Bay on April 14, a card that will include unbeaten junior-welterweight Mike Alvarado (32-0) against Mauricio Herrera (18-1).
“We’ll have the TV arrangements announced by the end of this week,” Arum said.
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