Timothy Bradley, Brandon Rios promise a war for November 7

Timothy Bradley and Brandon Rios officially announced their November 7 HBO main event today in Los Angeles, with promoter Bob Arum hyping the bout as one that could be the best of the year, a claim that isn't hard to understand given the nature of the two fighters.

"I am absolutely certain this will be the Fight of the Year or at the very least among those considered for Fight of the Year," Arum said to open the press conference. "This fight has the anticipation of so many people, and best of all, it will not be on pay-per-view. People will not have to go into their pocket to see this fight."

Rios (33-2-1, 24 KO) has been one of the most exciting action stars of the last five years, and is coming off of a one-sided rout of a broken down Mike Alvarado in January, the third fight between the two. Their first was a Fight of the Year type bout in 2012.

Rios said that with or without Bradley's WBO title on the line (it sounds like it will be), he was excited to get the call. "I was just happy to get a fight with Timothy Bradley," he said. "I'm ready to fight. I'm here, I'm ready to go. I'll be well-prepared, and you'll see the best Brandon again as you did with Alvarado. I'll be disciplined and it'll be a great show."

Bradley (32-1-1, 12 KO) won the Fight of the Year award in 2013 for his war with Ruslan Provodnikov, a fighter with a similar style to Rios. He last fought on June 27, beating Jessie Vargas for the interim WBO welterweight title. Bradley was elevated to full titleholder status when the sanctioning body stripped Floyd Mayweather.

Bradley addressed his new partnership with trainer Teddy Atlas, who replaces Joel Diaz, and said that he'll be in great shape, as if he's ever not been.

"Under the new guidance of Teddy Atlas, with my work ethic, I'll be in tremendous shape for this fight," Bradley said. "There's no other way to be, especially preparing for a guy like Brandon Rios. All the fans at home, you already know, man, tune in. It's gonna be a war, man. I'm excited about it."

Atlas did not attend the press conference, which means we got no weird metaphors about boating or the New York Jets.