Garcia/Rios & Benavidez/Gavril 2
3KingsBoxing.comoriginally reported several weeks ago that former two-division world champion Danny Garcia was hopingto get back inthe ring by February. 3KB was advised at that time that his likely opponent wouldbe Brandon Rios.
We learned late last nightthat a deal had been agreed to by both Garciaand Rios. The fight is likely totake place on February 17th in Las Vegas. The venuewill be either the MGM or Mandalay Bay accordingto the source. An announcement is expected soon.
Garcia, the former WBC welterweight champion, hasn’t fought since suffering the first loss of his career back in March in a unification bout with WBA champion Keith Thurman.
He was ordered to face former IBF champion Shawn Porter in an elimination bout by the WBC. The winner was to be Thurman’s mandatory. The fight fell apart and Porter beat Adrian Granados instead to earn the right to a rematch with ‘One-Time” next.
Rios announced his retirement after suffering his first career stoppage loss to Timothy Bradley in November 2015. He returned earlier this yearwith a new teamafter 18 months away from the sport, beating Aaron Herrera by seventh round stoppage.After the loss to Bradley Rios left longtime trainerRobertGarcia as well as parted ways with his promoter Top Rank.
Inthe co-feature to Garcia-Riosthe rematch between WBC super middleweight champion David Benavidez (19-0, 17KO) and challenger Ronald Gavril (18-2, 14 KOs).In September, Benavidez won a close twelve round split decision over Gavril to win the vacant WBC title.There was some controversy in the first fight between the two. The WBC ordered a rematch due to what some thought were questionable scorecards.
By: Chris ‘Bone’ Henderson
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