Austin Trout files suit against Frank Warren for "pressuring" WBO into removing Trout from rankings in favor of Liam Smith

Boxing politics are often good for a laugh, but they can turn ugly real fast.

This past August, the WBO stripped super welterweight champ Demetrius Andrade of his belt due to inactivity. Last month, Liam Smith defeated John Thompson to earn the vacant strap.

Now, Austin Trout is claiming foul play.

Trout has reportedly filed suit against Smith's promoter, Frank Warren, whom he accuses of pressuring the WBO into giving Smith the interim title shot and removing Trout from the rankings. He is seeking a lost purse of "at least $80,000."

World Boxing News has also included Warren's response in their article, in which the head of Queensberry Promotions refers to Trout's allegations as "malicious and entirely false...ridiculous and totally without merit."

I'll admit to knowing about as much about the law as my favorite advocate does, so I think I'll leave discussion of the lawsuit's merits to my betters and just mention the involved parties' recent histories of punching people.

Trout (30-2, 17 KO), who thrashed Joey Hernandez two months ago in his first PBC main event, was slated to face elite Frenchman Michel Soro in an IBF eliminator, but cancelled the bout in favor of directly pursuing a title shot. Smith (21-0-1, 11 KO), meanwhile, will defeat Jimmy Kelly in December.