LAS VEGAS ? Boxing fans scratched their heads and promoters distanced themselves from the announcement when the World Boxing Association indicated earlier this week that it would sanction Saturday?s bout at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas between Erik Morales and Marcos Maidana for its interim super lightweight championship.
That?s because Amir Khan, who defeated Maidana for the WBA title in Las Vegas in December, still holds the belt and plans to defend it on April 16 in the United Kingdom against Paul McCloskey.
Gilberto Mendoza Jr., the WBA vice president, said by telephone from Panama that the organization had recently changed its rules, giving its championship committee the ability to create interim titles at its discretion.
?We see an opportunity here for Morales and Maidana to fight for some recognition,? Mendoza said. ?Doing this has created an argument and a lot of debate among people. I know a lot of people don?t agree with us on this issue. But we see that one of them is a former champion, Erik Morales, who deserves a shot at the title. Secondly, Maidana has been our champion before and he gave a great fight to Amir.
?And according to the plans, there will be a unification match between Amir Khan and Timothy Bradley [the World Boxing Council/World Boxing Organization champion]. We want to be more open with the titles, and if we didn?t sanction it, there would be other smaller organizations that would do it.?
There are countless sanctioning bodies that award title belts, but the WBA, WBC, WBO and the International Boxing Federation are considered the major organizations. A boxer is considered an undisputed champion when he owns all four of those belts simultaneously, though it is difficult to do since the bodies often strip a fighter of one belt if he chooses to fight for another body?s belt.
Mendoza said the WBA has concerns that one boxer could tie up a belt or belts for a long period of time and other fighters wouldn?t get an opportunity to fight for it. But he said the WBA is sensitive to the criticism it receives, particularly from fans and media in the U.S., and said he doesn?t want the WBA to be viewed ?as a cancer on this sport.?
He said the WBA is looking at creating different levels of championships, ?similar to the gold, silver and bronze medals in the Olympics,? as a way to afford more recognition for boxers.
He said he understood the confusion that results when two boxers are considered WBA champion in the same division and said the organization wants to fine-tune its process so that it is fair to all concerned.
In the end, he said with concerns about the future of Khan?s title and with belief in Morales and Maidana?s legitimacy as championship contenders, the WBA championship committee opted to sanction the fight for the interim title.
?They do have the credentials to fight for a championship,? he said. ?We are giving two deserving fighters an opportunity and we are trying to do a good thing for boxing. I know people don?t understand how we give the recognition and it is important that we do a better job of explaining what we are doing and why.?
