By Miguel Rivera
The World Boxing Organization has ordered junior welterweights Brandon Rios (31-0-1, 23KOs) and Ruslan Provodnikov (22-1, 15KOs) to fight for the vacant WBO championship. If either Rios (now ranked at one) or Provodnikov (ranked at two) refuse to accept the fight, then the WBO will go down the chart for the highest ranked available contender.
The WBO has told their respective promoters to begin negotiations. Mike Alvarado was the number one ranked contender, but he was knocked off a few weeks ago by Rios (ranked at four at the time) by way of a seventh round knockout.
The belt will become vacant because Juan Manuel Marquez is moving up in weight to challenge Manny Pacquiao for a fourth time on December 8th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Marquez and Pacquiao will fight for a special WBO "Champion of The Decade" title.
