Brandon Rios was all set to face former featherweight titlist Yuriorkis Gamboa for a vacant lightweight belt on April 14 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

It was a major HBO fight that had boxing fans buzzing. Rios and Gamboa were both slated to make by far their biggest paydays, while the winner would be poised to launch himself to stardom.

So on March 5, Rios, from Oxnard, Calif., excitedly showed up at a hotel in Miami -- Gamboa's hometown -- where Top Rank had scheduled a news conference to kick off its promotion for the fight. But Gamboa never showed up, ultimately pulled out of the fight and is now being sued by Top Rank for breach of contract.

Rios did, however, have a memorable confrontation at the news conference, even if it wasn't with the fighter he expected. Miami resident and Cuba native Richard Abril, who holds an interim lightweight belt, was on hand. Rios didn't know who he was, but Abril confronted him. It eventually led to a match between them.

Top Rank had no intention of canceling the card even after Gamboa bailed. Instead, it vowed to find Rios a new opponent. And when HBO decided not to air an alternative fight with Rios, Top Rank shifted the card to a Top Rank-produced, HBO-distributed pay-per-view show.

Instead of fighting Gamboa, Rios will face Abril on April 14 (9 p.m., $44.95) for the vacant belt that was stripped from Rios for failing to make weight for a Dec. 3 defense against John Murray, whom he wound up knocking out in the 11th round.

In Gamboa's absence, Rios and Abril kicked off their own promotion with the news conference confrontation, before they even knew they would be fighting.

"I went there because the press conference was supposed to be with Gamboa," Rios said. "All the sudden, this guy came in. I guessed he was a friend of Gamboa, [who] didn't show up, so I was already mad and heated up and everything. Abril started talking smack, so I assumed it was his friend. He came up to me and said, 'I want to fight you.'

"I said, 'Who are you? You look like an average guy on the street with a tuxedo on.' He kept running his mouth, saying, 'I am the champion and you are nothing.' I said, 'You are the champion and you want to fight me? There is my manager right there, Cameron Dunkin.' Then he told me to talk to him in Spanish because he didn't know what I was saying. I said, 'If you don't know what I'm saying, then get the f--- out of here.' Then we got face-to-face, and he pushed me. I will never forget that he pushed me. A man never forgets that."

And the fight was born. Soon after it was clear that Gamboa was out, Top Rank made a deal with Abril's promoter, Dream Team Promotions.

Rios said it was not hard for him to switch gears from focusing on Gamboa to Abril, even though neither the fight nor his purse is nearly as big.

"I am a fighter, I'm a warrior," Rios said. "It's my job, and I love my job. I love to fight. Whoever they put in front of me in the ring -- I don't care who it is -- I'll be ready. That is what I train for. If anything changes, I am ready. It doesn't matter to me. If it is Gamboa, Abril or Mike Tyson, it doesn't matter. I'll fight them."

But that doesn't mean Rios has forgotten that Gamboa stood him up, even though he said he isn't compelled to seek the fight in the future.

"It is not unfinished business, because we never fought," Rios said. "He called my name out. I showed up in Miami. I have nothing to prove. He didn't show up. I have nothing to prove to this guy. I didn't mention his name once. He said he wanted to fight me, Manny Pacquiao, this guy, that guy, and when it came down to it, he was nowhere to be found. He is a coward."

After Rios (29-0-1, 22 KOs) fights Abril (17-2-1, 8 KOs) in Las Vegas, the telecast will shift to the new Mexico City Arena, where Juan Manuel Marquez (53-6-1, 39 KOs), unable to land a fourth fight with welterweight titleholder Manny Pacquiao, will meet Sergey Fedchenko (30-1, 13 KOs) of Ukraine, for a vacant interim junior welterweight belt in the pay-per-view main event.

The other televised bouts will precede Rios-Abril in Las Vegas: junior welterweight contender Mike Alvarado (32-0, 23 KOs) against Mauricio Herrera (18-1, 7 KOs) and lightweight Mercito Gesta (24-0-1, 12 KOs) against Oscar Cuero (15-7, 12 KOs).

Bute-Froch on Epix in U.S.

Although the Lucian Bute-Carl Froch super middleweight title bout is one of the most significant fights on the boxing schedule, Showtime didn't want the fight and even allowed Bute, whom it has under contract, a one-fight out to take it elsewhere. Also showing no interest was HBO, which has a full spring schedule and wasn't particularly interested in helping build up Bute for Showtime.

But premium network Epix was interested from the start, and this week it landed exclusive U.S. broadcast rights to the May 26 bout that will take place in Nottingham, England, Froch's hometown. Epix will televise the fight live and offer a live stream on EpixHD.com. As has become custom, Epix also will simulcast the fight on the jumbotron in New York's Times Square.

Bute (30-0, 24 KOs), a native of Romania who has fought mostly in his adopted hometown of Montreal, recently became a Canadian citizen. For his first bout since -- his 10th title defense -- Bute, who has been criticized in some quarters for defending his title only in Quebec, is leaving the comforts of home to fight in Froch's hometown.

"I am very pleased that boxing fans in the United States won't miss this war between Carl Froch and me," Bute said.

Froch (28-2, 20 KOs), a former two-time super middleweight titlist, will be facing Bute in his first fight since losing a decision to Andre Ward in a title-unification bout in Showtime's Super Six World Boxing Classic final in December.

Said Froch: "I'm thrilled that Epix has taken on my fight with Lucian. I have a lot of fans across the pond, and it is important that they get to see this fight live. It's going to be a great atmosphere in my hometown on the night because it's been so long since I've boxed there, and I think people will be impressed at the noise and passion my fans show when they turn out in force. Along with the class inside the ring on the night, it's going to be a must-see event."

Cleverly wants shot at Hopkins

Light heavyweight titlist Nathan Cleverly of Wales will defend his belt against Robin Krasniqi on April 28 in London. On the same night, champion Bernard Hopkins will defend the lineal title against Chad Dawson in their rematch in Atlantic City, N.J.

Cleverly would like a crack at Hopkins should they both win, and promoters Frank Warren (Cleverly) and Richard Schaefer (Hopkins) recently discussed a possible fight. Schaefer was in England recently to announce Golden Boy's output deal with BoxNation, the all-boxing...