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Guillermo Rigondeaux will have to look for another opponent, as the WBO’s mandatory challenger Chris Avalos doesn’t want to fight Rigo.
Apparent pull out
WBO President Paco Valcarcel announced via twitter that Chris Avalos has “apparently pulled-out” from his title date with Ring and WBO Jr. Featherweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux. This developed after Rigo’s promoter Caribe Promotions won the pursed bid held in Puerto Rico last September 19. The bout was already targeted for November 22 in Miami or the Dominican Republic.
According to WBO General Secretary Jose Izquierdo, Top Rank Vice President Carl Moretti informed him on Thursday about their decision to pull out Avalos from the Rigo bout. He added that Moretti thanked the WBO for the opportunity but said that they were moving forward to another direction.
Chasing another belt
Avalos is on a five fight winning streak and his 8th round knockout win on May 31 in Macau against Japanese Yasutaka Ishimoto made him the IBF’s mandatory challenger for its junior featherweight belt. The IBF champion at that time was Kiko Martinez, and Martinez secured an exception not to fight Avalos but rather take on Carl Frampton in a more financially rewarding fight. Unfortunately, Martinez lost to Frampton via unanimous decision last September 6.
Although Frampton is the new IBF champion, Avalos remains as the organization’s mandatory challenger. And as per agreement wit the IBF during the approval of “the exception to the mandatory”, Frampton is required to make a mandatory defense against Avalos within 90 days. But because Frampton is still nursing an injury, that mandatory defense will have to wait for a couple of months more.
Worth the wait
Frampton could be worth the wait for Avalos.
Compared to fighting a master boxer like Rigondeaux, Avalos has a much better shot at winning his first world title against a vulnerable Carl Frampton. Frampton, like Avalos, loves to fight while Rigondeaux loves to run. So do the math there.
Financially, Avalos would have made $79,444.45 purse against Rigondeaux. The amount is equivalent to 25% of Caribe Promotions’ winning bid of 317,777.77 and while that would have been easily the biggest payday of his career, Avalos and Top Rank believe they will make more money against Frampton. Kiko Martinez earned $700,000.0 to fight Frampton in Belfast earlier this month and although Avalos won’t make that money fighting Northern Ireland’s star boxer, he is expected to make more than what Caribe is offering in a much tougher fight against Rigondeaux.
It’s simple economics and a good strategy on the part of Chris Avalos and his management team. Why would he fight a much tougher opponent for a lesser payday? As for Guillermo Rigondeaux, this is yet another setback in his bid to win some following in America.
