By Ryan Burton, Victor Salazar
Over the past few weeks Top Rank CEO Bob Arum has been trying to put together a December HBO showdown between WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley and former lightweight champion Brandon Rios.
In a recent article by BoxingScene.com's Steve Kim, Rios' manager Cameron Dunkin declared the fight "dead" which leaves both fighters looking for new dance partners for their fall returns.
One fighter who has coveted fights with both Rios and Bradley is former junior welterweight champion Ruslan Provodnikov. He fought Bradley in March 2013 in a battle that was so good it won Fight of the Year and left the fighter known as "Siberian Rocky" craving a rematch or a slugfest against Rios.
A Rios-Provodnikov scrap would almost guarantee fireworks and savagery in the ring. Many fans have clamored for the match up over the past two years.
With the news that Bradley-Rios has fallen apart, BoxingScene.com reached out to Provodnikov's manager Vadim Kornilov to get his take on the recent developments.
"I heard about it. Everybody wants Rios to fight Provodnikov. Hell even Bradley wants Rios to fight Provodnikov. Will Rios summon all of his courage and actually ask for the fight that is guranteed to be Fight of the Year for 2015?" Kornilov told BoxingScene.com.
“I guess Rios's representatives had to go through all the opponents possible before they realize that Provodnikov is the fight that needs to be made, not only the fans but the powers of the universe are all steering towards this fight happening.”
"Rios' people have to stop avoiding the fight that everybody wants to see. People want to see Rios with Provodnikov way more than Rios versus Bradley or even Brook. We are in the business of selling fights to fans and people want to watch the 'Titanic' type movies, not the movies that never make it in the theaters. The promoters forget this sometimes and they forget that they make money when people are excited with the 'Titanic' type fights, Fight of the Year type fights and they make money when the sport grows and progresses!
"Rios and his team have to get over their fears and put all of their courage together and fight Ruslan. They need to stop trying to make the boring fights with fighters that are under one promoter and make the fight that everybody wants to see and now even all of the universal powers want this fight! I even heard that Bradley said he won't fight Rios because he wants to see Rios versus Provodnikov!"
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