Daniel Óscar García vs. Brandon Lee Ríos

February 17th on Showtime, and just today upgraded by the WBC to a final welterweight title eliminator. That means the victor gets first crack @...well, somebody, once the Keith Thurman/Jessie Vargas/Shawn Porter dust settles later this year.

In the co-feature slot will be Victor Ortiz vs. Devon Alexander. As most know, there is a long-standing feud between Ortiz and Ríos, so at first superficial glance this card might seem poised to whet appetites for a grudge match at last - but that would be contingent on both winning, and in Ríos' case it would be hard to imagine him throwing a guaranteed title shot away (likely his last ever) even for a chance to settle his old score. This would, in turn, free Ortiz up (should he beat fellow washed-up southpaw former champ-who-primed-six-years-ago Devon Alexander) to pursue a verbal challenge issued and duly accepted on social media for a match with Héctor Camacho Jr. (ikr? So random!!!) ...so at least we know we have some flavor of hot mess to look forward to in 2018 no matter how this all shakes out.

 

Odds haven't been published yet but I have to imagine Danny will open as the comfortable favorite.

The co-feature, meanwhile, could go even money.

 

Agreed, even though you have pros and cons with this configuration.

Danny vs. Devon is the only meaningful one, in terms of somebody going on to be remotely competitive with Thurman/Vargas/Porter. It also, however, could be the most boring match of all time.

Victor and Brandon have years of animosity built up and will go all out and put on a fireworks display that will be fun while it lasts, but ultimately it will mean nothing. They're both so past their primes and used-up and irrelevant by now, it won't affect either one's legacy that much in the grand scheme and NEITHER of these guys is going on to come within spitting distance of beating Thurman/Vargas/Porter, no chance in hell.

 

Here's the deal:

Porter fought in a "final eliminator" last year, making him the mandatory and next in line for a crack at the WBA title. In the meantime, Thurman still had one voluntary defense left before his next mandatory was due to be enforced. So, enter Vargas. That's his voluntary. After they've fought, whoever is champ HAS to face Porter next, immediately, no if's and's or but's.

Then after THAT, whoever is champ at that point (Thurman/Vargas/Porter) will HAVE to face the new mandatory, determined in the García vs. Ríos final eliminator.

So yes Porter is the mando, and yes this will be to determine a mando, but that isn't as contradictory as it sounds. Think of it like a queue of mandatories.