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Brandon Rios misses weight; blows shot at WBA title

For the second bout in a row, Brandon Rios failed to make weight and blew an opportunity to win the World Boxing Association lightweight title.

Rios, who is slated to fight Richard Abril Saturday at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, weighed in at 137 on Friday, two pounds above the lightweight of 135 pounds.

He was given two hours to lose the weight and, thus, still compete for the WBA belt. But when he came back, he had gained weight and came in at 139. As a result, the official weight is 137, the lower of the two, and he cannot win the title regardless of the outcome on Saturday.

Rios was fined $45,000, 10 percent of his $450,000 purse. Half of that money will go to Abril and the other half to the state of Nevada's general fund.

The bout was for the vacant WBA belt. Abril, who holds the interim WBA title, can win the regular belt if he defeats Rios. But if Rios wins or the bout is a draw, Abril will keep the interim title and the regular title will be vacant.

Rios could not be reached for comment Friday. His manager, Cameron Dunkin, said "I am stunned beyond words."

Dunkin said he was told Rios weighed 135 when he went to bed on Thursday and that he was still on weight when he got to the arena on Friday for the weigh-in. Dunkin said Rios has a $700 digital scale that has been calibrated and gives accurate readings that he weighed himself on.

"When he got to the arena, they told me Brandon was dead on," Dunkin said. "When I heard that [137] number 30 or 40 minutes later, I couldn't [expletive] believe it. I don't know what happened, but the only answer is he must have put something into his mouth. That's got to be the only explanation."

Rios was being groomed for a July 14 bout against Juan Manuel Marquez. Top Rank president Todd duBoef said he is not sure what to do about that fight.

He said he wants to think about it to make certain he comes up with the correct answer and doesn't react just because he's angry.

"If he was fighting Marquez tonight at 140, he'd be fine and we wouldn't be having this conversation," duBoef said. "The thing I'm angry about is the lack of communication. I heard nothing. Everything was, 'Oh, we're fine, we're fine.' Well, he wasn't fine. Communicate with me so we're aware and we can help you. If you and I are going to dinner and you're going to be 10 minutes, a half hour, even an hour late, no problem if you call me and let me know. But if [you] just show up an hour late – 'Surprise, I'm here!' – yeah, of course I'm going to [angry].

"But I'm not going to jump out and make a bold statement without thinking it through. Let's see how he does and then I'll make a decision. If he has a sluggish, listless performance, that would disqualify him as much from getting a fight with Marquez as missing weight would, don't you think?"

DuBoef said the $50,000 bonus for the winner will be paid if Abril wins the fight, but Rios will not be eligible for the bonus.

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