WBA and the IBF ****ing up the Featherweight division

[iamasadlittleboy]

Boxing's sanctioning bodies are again in a somewhat confusing position. The WBA have 3 active featherweight champions, they haven't got a champion in recess, or an interim champion. As of last Friday they had a “super” champion-Chris John, they had a “unified” champion- Yuriorkis Gamboa and they had a “regular” champion Jonathan Victor Barros. Although that's confusing enough for most of us things got a little stupider on Saturday as the “unified champion” was no longer a “unified champion”, Gamboa had been stripped of his IBF featherweight title prior to his bout with Jorge Solis.

 

The IBF rules dictate that a fighter must do a weigh in on the day of the fight, a “mandatory” weigh in. Ironically in Gamboa's previous fight the champion going in, Orlando Salido, was stripped for failing to remain within 10lbs of the divisions 126lbs weight limit in a fight that Gamboa would win by decision. This mandatory weigh in is an IBF only rule, that is used to combat fighters who put on a dramatic amount of weight over-night from the official weight a day prior to the fight.

 

 

 

Continued here:

http://hubpages.com/hub/The-featherweight-title-mess