The saga of Leo Santa Cruz’s title protection towards English contender Leigh Wooden took one other flip Wednesday afternoon. This, because the WBA reversed course after ordering Santa Cruz-Wooden and can now let their “Tremendous” champion battle WBC new title holder Rey Vargas later this 12 months as a substitute.
The WBA made the announcement online and through their social media that “common” champion Wooden will battle Mauricio Lara as a substitute, however the winner of that battle is allegedly assured a bout with the winner of Santa Cruz-Vargas,
WBA Authorised Santa Cruz-Vargas and Wooden-Lara https://t.co/fgotp2R35I
— WBA Boxing (@WBABoxing) August 24, 2022
“The World Boxing Affiliation (WBA) Championships Committee accepted the joint allow requested by Matchroom Boxing and TGB Promotions to permit featherweight tremendous champion Leo Santa Cruz to face Rey Vargas in a unification battle and featherweight champion Leigh Wooden to make a protection towards Mauricio Lara.
Each fights had been accepted with the situation that the tremendous champion will face the champion to outline the only champion of the class inside 120 days after the battle between Santa Cruz and Vargas.
It ought to be famous that the WBA, within the midst of world title discount plan, ordered the Santa Cruz-Wooden final April 6, 2022. On July 11, TGB requested a allow to make the Santa Cruz Vargas, which was denied on July 15 by the championships committee, which known as for a handbag bid for Santa Cruz-Wooden.
On August 12, each firms despatched a communication stating that they’d reached an settlement and the purse bid was suspended. Subsequently, on the twenty second of that very same month, the joint permission was requested through which the Santa Cruz-Vargas and the Wooden-Lara had been requested, with the dedication that each winners would face one another within the established time period to outline the one champion.
The Championships Committee made the choice based mostly on the inner guidelines of the group. Rule C.16 states that the physique might modify the durations of obligatory defenses for good trigger, both in response to a request for particular permission or by itself initiative.
As well as, Rule C.46 states that the BMA might droop or modify the strict utility of those guidelines when it deems justified in its sole discretion to accommodate particular circumstances. Such causes embody “collaborating in an optionally available title protection”, “collaborating in a bout of acknowledged significance and significance to the boxing world”, “extending or modifying a compulsory protection interval”, or for any cause the Committee and the President deem simply.
The WBA despatched the decision to the events and as soon as each fights are fulfilled there can be no extra permits. The subsequent battle should be between the tremendous champion belt holder and the champion, to outline the only monarch of the division.”
As Our Dan Rafael wrote last month, the WBA has been dragging their feet on making Santa Cruz defend towards their obligatory challenger Wooden. He wrote then,
“WBA president Gilberto Mendoza was strongly contemplating permitting the battle (Santa Cruz-Vargas) however finally the request for a particular allow for the unification bout was rejected.
The WBA ordered Santa Cruz-Wooden on April 6 and gave them 30 days to barter a deal in any other case a handbag bid could be ordered. They didn’t make a deal however the purse bid was not ordered whereas they went backwards and forwards concerning the purse cut up.
Then, on July 11, the WBA stated it acquired a request for a particular allow to sanction a Santa Cruz-Vargas unification battle.
On Friday, the WBA issued its ruling — a replica of it and the opposite rulings had been obtained by Huge Struggle Weekend – through which the group denied the request to sanction Santa Cruz-Vargas….
Santa Cruz has not defended the featherweight belt since February 2019 however fought 3 times at junior light-weight, the place he additionally gained the WBA title. He was allowed to concurrently maintain each belts, which is towards WBA guidelines, after which misplaced the junior light-weight title by knockout to Gervonta Davis in October 2020.
A number of months in the past, the WBA lastly requested Santa Cruz to inform the group if he deliberate to return to featherweight. Santa Cruz instructed the WBA he would return to featherweight and make the obligatory protection towards Wooden however that he would love a warm-up battle to shake off the rust of his lengthy layoff. The WBA allowed it and Santa Cruz outpointed Keenan Carbajal in a Feb. 5 non-title bout. Now he’s obligated to face Wooden, though he may nonetheless face Vargas, simply with out the WBA title.
“I promised we’d have one champion per division. That was the coverage I created, a one champion coverage,” WBA president Gilberto Mendoza instructed Huge Struggle Weekend again in July. “And we’re going to comply with it.”
Because it seems, they didn’t comply with it.
Rafael reacted negatively on Wednesday evening to the WBA ruling on social media and really Wooden’s promoter, Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing, responded to him,
It is less than the camps to comply with title fights in teh interim after the obligatory was ordered AND either side instructed the #wretched WBA there was a deal. It is as much as the sanctioning physique to find out whether or not its title/titles can be out there not the fighters/promoters. https://t.co/5euVR0p3di
— Dan Rafael (@DanRafael1) August 24, 2022
Dan went on to reply to Hearn that the WBA shouldn’t have belts at stake for these two bouts after what they ordered/then reversed and particularly, as a result of Lara isn’t even presently ranked at 126 lb. by them to battle Wooden for a belt.
Now, we’ll look ahead to the Santa Cruz-Vargas bout to finalize and what else comes subsequent.
