For the second day in a row, undefeated Cuban sensation Yuriorkis Gamboa has blown off a scheduled press conference to promote a proposed April 14th showdown with former lightweight champion Brandion Rios. This time, however, Top Rank Promotions had advanced warning as Gamboa revealed early this morning in an interview with Lem Satterfield that he had no intention of showing up at the Millenium Biltmore Hotel's Crystal Ballroom today. When asked directly if he would be in attendance, Gamboa replied, "No, there's no contract and there is no fight." Nevertheless, Top Rank issued a press release stating that they were moving forward with today's press conference in Los Angeles and that both fighters, as well as Top Rank President Todd duBoef, would be present. When the press conference began, both Rios and duBoef were in attendance. Gamboa, however, was not.
According to Gamboa, who is unhappy with his current promotional situation, he never signed a contract for the fight, therefore, he never had any plans on showing up to promote the bout. It's a fact that, according to him, Top Rank was aware of. "I never signed a contract for the fight, and since I didn't have a contract, and we're still under negotiations, then there was no reason for me to go to the press conference," Gamboa explained. "When I told them that I was not going to show up, they told me that there was no way that they could cancel this, and that I should just show up and be there and this and that. But I said, 'I didn't sign anything, so I'm not going.' I told Jose Perez, who works with Ahmet Oner, on Saturday, when I spoke to my lawyer, that I was not going to go to the press conference on Monday."
Top Rank Promotions, however, disagrees with Gamboa's assessment. During today's press conference, Top Rank President Todd duBoef stated that there is indeed a "binding document" that proves that Gamboa did indeed agree to terms to face Rios on April 14. He insists that they're still committed to staging Rios vs. Gamboa on April 14th, and the burden is on Gamboa to live up to his agreement. In fact, duBoef also revealed that Top Rank is following in the footsteps of the UFC for this fight and offering a $100,000 bonus to the winner. Whether or not that's enough to convince Gamboa to change his mind remains to be seen, however, as his lawyer maintains that the issue is with his actual promotional contract, not the money for this particular fight.
Although Todd duBoef is still holding out hope that Rios vs. Gamboa will take place on April 14th, sources tell us that plans have already been put into motion to find a replacement for Gamboa, as Rios will still be fighting on the date and at the same venue.
[ Follow Ben Thompson on Twitter @fighthype ]