Saturday night, the vacant WBO super featherweight title left behind by Scotsman Ricky Burns will be contested between WBO #1 Adrien Broner [21-0, 17 KOs] and WBO #6 Vicente Rodriguez [34-2-1, 19 KOs] in the opening televised match on HBO Boxing After Dark’s split-site broadcast headlined by Saul Alvarez’s WBC 154 pound title defense against Kermit Cintron.
Broner’s hometown of Cincinnati will host his scrap against the Buenos Aires-based (and long-odds underdog) Rodriguez at its own U.S. Bank Arena.
Team Tomlinson was locked in to fight Vicente Rodriguez next week, or so they thought, until Rodriguez pulled out of a signed fight to meet Adrien Broner this Saturday for the vacant WBO strap. Tomlinson will instead fight Mexican Allan Herrera on Wednesday.
Until a month ago, Rodriguez was slated to meet WBO #3 super featherweight Will Tomlinson [17-0-1, 12 KOs] of Sydney, Australia for the vacant IBO 130 pound title, a fight believed to be all but signed and sealed according to Tomlinson manager Fidel Tukel, whom this writer contacted when it was first announced that Burns would be vacating and moving up to fight Michael Katsidis for the interim WBO lightweight crown.
Prior to this weekend’s clash between Broner and Rodriguez, Leave it in the Ring had the chance to catch up with Tukel, who shed some light on the situation.
“The agent we used in Argentina gave us a verbal confirmation that the contract was signed. We hounded them for our copy of the contract for about three or four weeks,” explained Tukel.
“We purchased the air tickets, but realized what was going on when we weren’t getting any answers regarding the contract. I realized they [Golden Boy] were after Rodriguez.”
Given that Tomlinson ranks three spots above Rodriguez, one would surmise that he would be among the first offered a crack at Broner. Though Tukel acknowledges that he was contacted regarding the fight, he concedes that their camp was afforded little time for consideration before the ink had dried on the deal with the Argentine.
“I told Eric [Gomez, Golden Boy matchmaker] we probably would go against him, but to give us 48 hours to get back to him,” Tukel relayed during a phone interview earlier this morning.
“Before we had a chance it was already up on BoxRec that Broner would be fighting Rodriguez.”
Though his fighter was denied an opportunity to fight on a large American stage, Tukel maintains that it isn’t the worst thing in the world.
“[Tomlinson] will probably start headlining pay-per-views on Main Event after this fight, we’ve been in discussions about it for awhile. We’re looking to take the torch, so to speak, from Danny Green once he hangs them up. We are fighting a Mexican, Allan Herrera for the vacant IBO on the undercard of Green’s next fight [against Kryzyzstof Wlodarczyk on November 30th for the WBC cruiserweight title].”
Which leaves the future of Broner-Tomlinson up in the air.
“If Eric Gomez offered the fight, we’d look at options for a unification. The WBO probably won’t force it as a mandatory given the way that we’ve been treated.”
As Tomlinson was ready to step in against Rodriguez for the vacant IBO strap prior to the latter pulling out and securing the Broner fight, Tukel had viewed plenty of footage on Rodriguez in preparation—and was happy to offer his take on this Saturday’s match.
“Rodriguez can present a massive problem for any boxer. His overhand rights are massive. Broner will probably stop Rodriguez in six but there’s a chance he could get caught.”
Though a meeting with Broner remains uncertain, Tukel shared future hopes for his undefeated fighter moving forward.
“We want to fight Mick Katsidis in the next six to twelve months,” Tukel affirmed. “If we want to be considered as part of the upper echelon, those are the fights you have to take.”
As per Tukel, a Katsidis fight would likely arrive at a catchweight between the 130 and 135 pound divisions. A relatively big fight for Australian boxing, it could do wonders for Tomlinson’s marketability should he come through the other side with a win.
There is another Aussie with a world title around his waist—IBF featherweight champion Billy Dib, just one division south of Tomlinson. When asked if they would consider a match so long as the weight cut was feasible, Tukel made his stance clear.
“We always joke about making 126. We’ve gotten close but never made it. I think we could but it wouldn’t be the best idea in the world. If it was [Orlando] Salido or Juan Manuel Lopez, we’d heavily consider taking the fight. As far as Dib, out of respect we wouldn’t fight him because he is a friend.”
As to why Dib seems to draw little exposure in Australia despite boasting a world title, Tukel tendered his opinion. For instance, that Dib’s title lifting victory over Jorge Lacierva earlier this year was not aired on Australian television, never mind the bout being a domestic one. Dib’s most recent win, last weekend’s one-round KO of Italian Alberto Servidei, as well failed to raise his stock as many deemed the fight a farce.
“He has an awkward style and just isn’t very fun to watch,” opined Tukel.
“When he gets in the ring he doesn’t take risks. If he fought how he sparred, he’d be one of the more exciting fighters out there. But for some reason he fights cautiously or scared or something and it doesn’t make for good fights. Also, Dib isn’t like
Will Tomlinson will fight for the vacant IBO 130-pound title on a heavy bill on Australia next week alongside Danny Green and Chris John. Tomlinson missed out on an opportunity to fight for the vacant WBO belt this weekend against Adrien Broner.
most Australians in the way he carries himself. People may be turned off by how he runs his mouth.”
If Tomlinson can continue the winning streak, he will likely avoid the same problems that plague Dib. In addition to being a class act, Tomlinson’s style is fan-friendly—he is a short-armed fighter who loves to fight on the inside.
If an opportunity to fight in America presents itself to the super featherweight from Down Under (not dissimilar to Dib’s 2008 match against Steven Luevano), fight fans can bet he will make the most of it. Getting work with world champions Yuriorkis Gamboa and Chris John, who Tomlinson sparred with in preparation of his IBO title opportunity this coming Wednesday, will only bolster the likelihood he comes away with a belt.
Though this weekend won’t offer that opportunity like Team Tomlinson may have hoped, it doesn’t seem too far off.
Mark Ortega is the lead writer for Leave It in The Ring as well as a contributor to Undisputed Magazine. He can be reached via e-mail at ortegaliitr@gmail.com and followed via Twitter at @OrtegaLIITR.
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