Two Things The WBA Can Do To Make Amends for Goof Offs
By Teodoro Medina Reynoso
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 24 Jun 2021
The World Boxing Association (WBA) recently added to its notoriety when it sanctioned yet another interim world title fight at heavyweight involving Michael Hunter, Jr., himself at best a low tier contender and a certain Mike Wilson, an obscure fighter with bloated up record who reportedly has never fought at heavyweight.
The WBA already recognizes four fighters as "world champion", namely Anthony Joshua of UK as super champion, Trevor Bryant of the US as regular champion, Mahmoud Charr of Syria as champion in recess and Daniel Dubois also of the UK as interim champion.
The need for sanctioning another interim championship fight between Hunter and Wilson eludes logic.
Well, it is just the latest of WBA's goof offs that started with the organization's fetish for multiple world champions in practically all weight divisions from the minimumweight up to the heavyweight.
At minimum weight for example the WBA has three champions, Thamanon Niyomtrong aka Knockout CP Freshmart of Thailand as super champion, Victorio Saludar of the Philippines as regular champion and Leyland Buenavidez of Puerto Rico as gold champion, whatever that means. Yet it has sanctioned another fight involving ex champions Byron Rojas of Nicaragua and Jose Argumedo of Mexico for its regular championship. Duh?
This excessive penchant for multiple world champions by the WBA has resulted to calls for withdrawal of recognition of the WBA as a legitimate major world boxing sanctioning body or even non support or boycott of its sanctioned championship bouts.
Except for withdrawal of recognition by the World Boxing Network (WBN), an influential major boxing media group in the US, the WBA has nonetheless emerged somewhat unscathed from the near global media-led boxing fan indignation.
The position of the WBA is somehow stabilized by the fact that it has popular and widely acclaimed champions in its roster as Joshua, Canelo Alvarez, Manny Pacquiao, Josh Taylor and Naoya Inoue.
In this respect, I believe the WBA can and should do at least two things that would help the organization somewhat make make amends for its past and recent so called goof offs.
First is restoring Pacquiao as its super champion in the welterweight division. This would not only correct it's own unjust move stripping Pacquiao of its recognition as super champion and relegating him to the nebulous designation as champion in recess while replacing with a largely unworthy Yordenis Ugas of Cuba. Restoring Pacquiao will also upgrade his forthcoming fight against unified WBC and IBF champion Errol Spence of the US as truly a world welterweight unification bout.
Second is mandating a fight between it's super champion Inoue and regular champion Guillermo Rigondeaux for its bantamweight crown possibly in conjunction with the IBF to accelerate the quest for one true unified world champion in the division preparatory to an eventual clash with the winner of the forthcoming WBC-WBO unification between Filipino champions Nonito Donaire and John Riel Casimero.
Inoue has recently said that he is not interested in a fight versus Rigondeux while he waits for the Donaire-Casimero winner. But that is not for him nor his promoter Bob Arum who is also known for his dislike of Rigo, to decide.
I believe this is where the WBA could come in and its decisiveness will serve for the better, for a change. It is quiet unfair that two Filipinos would be tearing at each other while Inoue and Rigondeaux would just wait like well rested hyenas for the survivor.
Donaire and Casimero will meet on August 14 yet and by that time, Inoue would be three months off the ring, and Rigondeaux has been inactive since February 2020. Certainly the two would need to have a fight, especially Rigondeaux. Logic and practicality as well as fair play dictate that Inoue and Rigondeaux duke it out to make them even worthy to face either Donaire or Casimero.
Tomato cans won't certainly do for either.
The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.
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