Association of Boxing Commissions Addresses Numerous Concerns With WBA

[Ruthless-RKO]

Association of Boxing Commissions Addresses Numerous Concerns With WBA

A sanctioning body’s promise to clean up its titular mess has been met by the call to altogether clean up its act.

The World Boxing Association (WBA) has come under fire in recent days, largely in part to the controversial verdict that took place on August 7 with its “interim” welterweight title at stake. Venezuela’s Gabriel Maestre (4-0, 3KOs)—a two-time Olympian who has been fast-tracked to title contention escaped with a highly questionable split decision draw over Mykal Fox in the chief support of a Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on Fox-televised tripleheader from The Armory in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Nearly everyone who witnessed the bout had Fox winning with room to spare, only for judges Gloria Martinez-Rizzo (117-110), John Mariano (115-112) and David Singh (114-113) to bear witness to a completely different fight. The event—coupled with the sanctioning body’s sordid history of creating multiple “champions” per weight division—has drawn the ire of the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC), who has demanded clarity and resolution to an ongoing practice that has clearly caused more harm than good to the health of the sport.

“It has come to our attention that the World Boxing Association has engaged in practices that are not in the best interest of professional boxing,” Michael Mazzulli, president of ABC addressed to WBA president Gilbert Jesus Mendoza in an official letter, a copy of which has been obtained by BS.com. “Please find enclosed some points I would like you to address:

“First, the ABC is concerned that promoting multiple "world" (For example, Gold Championship, Super Championship, World Championship and numerous Interim Championship) championships in each weight class, is misleading to the public and the boxers.

“Secondly, in light of the event this past weekend in Minnesota (Maestre vs Fox), the WBA should use more conscientiousness in making recommendations to local United States Commissions. Your own comments in the media, you emphasized that the Minnesota Commission approved the selections the WBA recommended officials.”

The bout between Maestre and Fox created a fifth WBA title claimant in the welterweight division alone.

Maestre holds the interim belt, while unbeaten Vergil Ortiz (17-0, 17KOs) is the recognized WBA “Gold” welterweight titlist and who fights this weekend. Jamal James was elevated earlier this year from “interim” to WBA “World” titlist and is in discussion for a mandatory title defense with Radzhab Butaev. On August 21, Yordenis Ugas will defend his recently upgraded WBA “Super” welterweight title versus the belt’s former claimant, Manny Pacquiao who was named WBA “Champion in Recess.”

Sadly, this mess is not limited to the welterweight division. In fact, there are only two weight classes where the WBA doesn’t have at least three recognized titlists.

The light heavyweight division pared down its list only because Jean Pascal was stripped of his WBA “World” title after testing positive for multiple banned substances surrounding his canceled rematch with Badou Jack this past June. Dmitry Bivol remains the “Super” champion while Robin Krasniqi holds the “interim” title at the weight.

The bantamweight division also claims two titlists, though clearly one too many as it relates to a scheduled bout this weekend. Guillermo Rigondeaux holds the WBA “World” bantamweight titiist, a secondary version of the “Super” title held by Naoya Inoue who is also the IBF champ.

Rigondeaux’s title status has sparked a debate between sanctioning bodies heading into his August 14 showdown with WBO bantamweight titlist John Riel Casimero. Efforts to bill the Showtime main event as a title unification bout were immediately met with resistance by the WBO, who—like the WBC and IBF—disallows unification bouts with secondary title holders. There have been exceptions, such as Inoue entering the World Boxing Super Series bantamweight tournament with the WBA “World” title, before collecting the IBF belt and eventually wresting the WBA “Super” champ from Nonito Donaire in the tournament final.

As it relates to this weekend, the WBO would not move forward with a title unification bout with a secondary titleholder while the WBA also went on record in noting it had not yet sanctioned the bout.

A third matter addressed in the letter sought clarification in the status of Marcelino Castillo, a named member of Maestre’s team who is also alleged to be “closely affiliated (employed) by the WBA and worked the corner of Boxer Maestre, which is a firewall violation within the title 15 chapter 89 of the US Code, if he was compensated in any manner for his services.” That matter was since refuted by Mendoza vis-a-vis Castillo’s place with the organization. It was also addressed in a Yahoo! Sports report quoting Rudy Hernandez, Maestre’s head trainer who confirmed that Castillo did not work the corner that evening. His role was limited, however, only due to his inability to secure a license according to Mark Ortega, who handles TV production for various outlets and was on site that weekend.

Mendoza has once again vowed to work on reducing the number of WBA-recognized titlists, informing ESPN Deportes’ Salvador ‘Chava’ Rodriguez that the matter has caused a financial strain on the organization.

Not helping matters, however, is the fact that a rematch between Maestre and Fox has already been ordered by the WBA with its interim title to remain at stake. The belt was declared vacant following James’ upgrade to “World” titlist, which should have been the solution all along.

Refusing to take the longtime WBA president at his word, the ABC is now doing its part to help clear up the clutter—if not run them out of town altogether.

“If you fail to take any action, the ABC Board of Directors may make recommendation to the body which include the following:

1. Do not honor the WBA belt as sanctioned within a USA jurisdiction.

2. Do not accept WBA official’s recommendations.

3. Do not allow your Supervisor in controlled technical zone during a WBA fight.”

Should that action be taken by the ABC, it would have to be recognized by all commissions under its jurisdiction—which is almost every commission in the United States and Canada.

[Ruthless-RKO]

WOW!

Why has it taken the ABC this long to get involved.

About time it's getting serious..

Hopefully.

[Ruthless-RKO]

To be honest, the WBC, IBF and WBO aren't great either.

But WBA takes the cake all day.

IBF's main issue for me is the mandatories.

People give WBC flack over the commemorative belts, but I have no issue with them, the boxers obviously agree with it too.

WBO also have a ranking and belt issue. Belt issue, I mean the WBO European belt, which now IBF have followed..

Also have crap mando's as well..

[Perseus]

Should have given a deadline.

Clean your mess up by X day or the commissions will withdraw WBA recognition the following day.

As it stands this is just a loud bark that will never, ever be followed by a bite.

WBA needs to be run out of the sport, they have earned that treatment.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Isn’t it the commissions that set the judges?

[Perseus]

Isn’t it the commissions that set the judges?

They usually appoint whoever the sanctioning body recommends.

[Jeff_lacy_ko]

The sport is a total joke at every level.

In the last decade i figure US boxing as lost half its fans (and that base was small to begin with)

[oogiebe]

The sport is a total joke at every level.

In the last decade i figure US boxing as lost half its fans (and that base was small to begin with)

It's tragic.

[Enlightened-One]

What's the worst thing the ABC could do to the WBA? Revoke their membership?

And what geographical regions are under the ABC's jurisdiction?

I'm not sure if the ABC could prevent the WBA from operating in the US or Canada.

They definitely can't prevent the WBA operating globally.

It seems like an idle threat to me. An empty gesture to appease fight fans... being seen making promises to do "something", without actually doing anything meaningful.

And why have they only publicly spoken out now? This situation has been going on for years!

Can anyone remind me of the last time the ABC addressed some of the dodgy conduct of the various sports governing bodies, because for the life of me, I honestly can't recall a situation where they ever did anything meaningful?

Perhaps I'm being unreasonable... and so I'm hoping that someone can educate me on the ABC?

I've read the sentences contained within the quotes of the letter allegedly sent to the WBA, but they're meaningless.

They've not demanded the WBA action anything and nor have they specified timescales/deadlines to address specific issues. Even the threat of punishment itself is vague to the point of being meaningless.

If we go by what the ABC have promised to do in MMA, it's clear they're a powerless organisation that fails to deliver on its promises to unify the rules of the various combat sports it governs.

[Perseus]

EO if the ABC withdraws WBA recognition almost all of the commissions in the USA and Canada have to follow suit meaning WBA sanctioned fights cannot be contested in those jurisdictions.
Showtime, espn, dazn, Fox, etc will not follow the WBA around the world. The boxers who fight on those platforms will simply stop competing for WBA trinkets.

[Enlightened-One]

EO if the ABC withdraws WBA recognition almost all of the commissions in the USA and Canada have to follow suit meaning WBA sanctioned fights cannot be contested in those jurisdictions.
Showtime, espn, dazn, Fox, etc will not follow the WBA around the world. The boxers who fight on those platforms will simply stop competing for WBA trinkets.

You’re making assumptions based on the entirety of the article you’ve read, where the author has detailed the WBA’s lengthy list of wrongdoings.

But if you focussed your attention by only reading the extracts of the alleged ABC letter to the WBA (i.e. those sentences in double-quotes), you’ll surely appreciate the fact they haven’t clearly specified what actions must be taken and by what deadline.

And nor have they explicitly stated the consequences of refusing to abide by their instructions (i.e. "may make a recommendation" is not the same as saying "you will definitely be punished in this manner!")

If you look at the ABC’s equivalent conduct in MMA, they’ve failed to harmonise the rules in that sport, which is what they promised to do.

Instead, all they’ve done is issue “recommendations”, which haven’t been fully adhered to by their members. Instead, their members have cherry-picked certain rules and ignored the remainder.

This suggests they’re a powerless organisation that can only make recommendations.

Imagine if your employer told you they weren’t happy with your conduct and that you needed to do “better”, but without explaining what “better” meant, nor setting goals or deadlines and without specifying the consequences of failing to achieve those targets? And then they sacked you a few weeks later.

They wouldn’t have a legal leg to stand on… and neither would the ABC’s handling of the WBA situation (based on the excerpts of the letter that's been disclosed).

I’m telling you now, the ABC’s letter to the WBA can only be considered an idle threat, until they precisely detail their demands, specify deadlines and also clearly convey the consequences for failing to achieve those targets.

Six months from now, people will forget about the ABC's letter and the situation will remain as-is. The WBA might decide to drop some of their interim straps (probably by elevating their titleholders), but don't expect them to do much more than that.

[WestEndRiot]

Haven't we been saying all these years that they get away with it because there's no organisation overseeing boxing, so they're all a law unto themselves?

Now this 'ABC' comes out of the woodwork, and my initial thoughts are, great, maybe they'll start to finally clean this mess up.

But if they've been around all this time and consistently turned a blind eye to it, then clearly they aren't fit for purpose either.

The whole thing stinks

[Jeff_lacy_ko]

EO is righ Abc is a nonprofit who standardizes reporting and rules among other things... but they have no legal standing to do anything to the WBA

[DrDuke]

Hopefully they dismiss WBA and their WBC fellas, and publically execute Mendoza with Sulaiman.

[Ruthless-RKO]

[adislav123]

get rid of all the world whatever shitstraps in all the orgs, may it be gold, silver, regular or whatever.

try to unify/go for undisputed if possible/makes sense.

5 possible 'world' champions in each division including the ibo is more than enuff.

frikkin fvck off with the rest of the lot.

[joshj909]

Good start. Hope they follow through with this. There's still lots more to be done.

[gregregegg]

If the wba wants to fix the wba the first step is just to shut it down and never try to reopen it…

[maverick23]

Good move in getting rid of all of the interims with immediate effect.

Sorts out a tier of ‘champs’ in one go. I wonder if there will be any legal challenges against it - promoters and fighters would have paid sanctioning fees for these belts which they now won’t have.

The WBA spent a long time fornicating things up but they’re making some good decisions now so credit where it’s due.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Good move in getting rid of all of the interims with immediate effect.

Sorts out a tier of ‘champs’ in one go. I wonder if there will be any legal challenges against it - promoters and fighters would have paid sanctioning fees for these belts which they now won’t have.

The WBA spent a long time fornicating things up but they’re making some good decisions now so credit where it’s due.

Interim ain’t worth shit. Who ever is interim is probably ranked #1 anyway.

Plus when was the last time an interim champion was ordered against the Super?

[maverick23]

Good move in getting rid of all of the interims with immediate effect.

Sorts out a tier of ‘champs’ in one go. I wonder if there will be any legal challenges against it - promoters and fighters would have paid sanctioning fees for these belts which they now won’t have.

The WBA spent a long time fornicating things up but they’re making some good decisions now so credit where it’s due.

Interim ain’t worth shit. Who ever is interim is probably ranked #1 anyway.

Plus when was the last time an interim champion was ordered against the Super?

Agreed but it clouded the situation. I never had an issue with an interim title if it was used as originally intended but the WBA abused the interim status to the extreme.

No idea re: interims being ordered to fight the Super. Maybe never as that would have meant one fewer champion post fight.

[gregregegg]

I disagree with just taking the belts. They are shit, all agree, but people made fights and payed fees for those belts.

WBA act like they have a complicated problem, getting rid of belts dosent need strait scrapping, you just stop giving out new ones and order unifications.

Order every interim vs every WBA gold due in due by end of the year. . Then order every Wba gold vs every WBA regular due by july next year. The then order every reg champ as mandatory to the super champ.

[oogiebe]

Interim belts are like WWE money in the bank status.

[halfamill]

Interim belts are like WWE money in the bank status.

That turned me way from the WWE and the wba interim belt from following most title fights.

[peter barlow]

They have not indicated the Regular belt is going anywhere have they?

So it's still going to be two champions. The regular should go too.