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The attorney for THE RING's No. 1-rated featherweight, Yuriorkis Gamboa, confirmed that the former Cuban Olympic gold medalist's fight with the magazine's No. 1-rated lightweight, Brandon Rios, scheduled for April 14 on HBO, has been canceled.
Gamboa's attorney, Sekou Gary, confirmed what ******.com was initially informed of through an e-mail which read the "April 14 Top Rank show, Rios v Gamboa is dead on HBO," and which cited an HBO internal email with a cancel notice.
In an initial report by ******.com, Gary said that the fighter would not face Rios unless he is "operating under terms that are satisfactory," regarding his contract with co-promoters Top Rank Inc. and Ahmet Oner.
In addition, ******.com has learned that Top Rank CEO Bob Arum has informed Yahoo!Sports that his company has filed a lawsuit with the U.S. District Court in Las Vegas for breach of contract against Gamboa.
Arum confirmed the filing to ******.com, but would not comment futher.
"This would have been a hell of a fight, but what can we do? We had a deal and he's not living up to the deal," Arum told Kevin Iole of Yahoo!Sports.
"We've sued him, but at this point, we have not made any claims against whoever may have induced him to breach his contract. We'll see about that."
The Tweet also announced that Rios will face Richard Abril (17-2-1, 8 KOs), the WBA's interim titleholder, in place of Gamboa.
Click here for video of Rios-Abril press conference confrontation.
Top Rank has retained lawyer David Marroso, who is a senior attorney with the Los Angeles-based O'Melveny and Myers law firm. Marroso's partner, Daniel Petrocelli, gained a wrongful death conviction against O.J. Simpson in 1997.
"I think that it's a great public relations move by Top Rank," said Gary, who has been contacted by Marroso.
"But I think that the evidence will show that the promotional contract between Gamboa and Top Rank has expired, and that there clearly was never any agreement to fight the Brandon Rios fight. The original promotional contract that Gamboa signed has expired, and then the contract that Top Rank is operating under with Gamboa is not valid."
Prior to learning of the lawsuit, Gary was at least still hopeful that the fight could eventually happen.
"We definitely want the fight to happen, but that will be a decision that it left to Top Rank, at the end of the day. We're obviously not going to fight on April 14. But as far as a future fight, we want the fight, but that will be a decision that Top Rank will have to make at the appropriate time," said Gary.
"We're currently in talks in reference to his current status with Top Rank right now. There are disputes over his status and we're trying to come to a resolution as far as our viewpoints on the situation."
It is unclear as of now how the suit against Gamboa will affect the aforementioned talks. Gary could not be reached fo comment.
Gamboa's attorney, Sekou Gary, confirmed what ******.com was initially informed of through an e-mail which read the "April 14 Top Rank show, Rios v Gamboa is dead on HBO," and which cited an HBO internal email with a cancel notice.
In an initial report by ******.com, Gary said that the fighter would not face Rios unless he is "operating under terms that are satisfactory," regarding his contract with co-promoters Top Rank Inc. and Ahmet Oner.
In addition, ******.com has learned that Top Rank CEO Bob Arum has informed Yahoo!Sports that his company has filed a lawsuit with the U.S. District Court in Las Vegas for breach of contract against Gamboa.
Arum confirmed the filing to ******.com, but would not comment futher.
"This would have been a hell of a fight, but what can we do? We had a deal and he's not living up to the deal," Arum told Kevin Iole of Yahoo!Sports.
"We've sued him, but at this point, we have not made any claims against whoever may have induced him to breach his contract. We'll see about that."
The Tweet also announced that Rios will face Richard Abril (17-2-1, 8 KOs), the WBA's interim titleholder, in place of Gamboa.
Click here for video of Rios-Abril press conference confrontation.
Top Rank has retained lawyer David Marroso, who is a senior attorney with the Los Angeles-based O'Melveny and Myers law firm. Marroso's partner, Daniel Petrocelli, gained a wrongful death conviction against O.J. Simpson in 1997.
"I think that it's a great public relations move by Top Rank," said Gary, who has been contacted by Marroso.
"But I think that the evidence will show that the promotional contract between Gamboa and Top Rank has expired, and that there clearly was never any agreement to fight the Brandon Rios fight. The original promotional contract that Gamboa signed has expired, and then the contract that Top Rank is operating under with Gamboa is not valid."
Prior to learning of the lawsuit, Gary was at least still hopeful that the fight could eventually happen.
"We definitely want the fight to happen, but that will be a decision that it left to Top Rank, at the end of the day. We're obviously not going to fight on April 14. But as far as a future fight, we want the fight, but that will be a decision that Top Rank will have to make at the appropriate time," said Gary.
"We're currently in talks in reference to his current status with Top Rank right now. There are disputes over his status and we're trying to come to a resolution as far as our viewpoints on the situation."
It is unclear as of now how the suit against Gamboa will affect the aforementioned talks. Gary could not be reached fo comment.
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