So Timothy Bradley was informed by the World Boxing Council, known as the WBC, that his junior welterweight title has been stripped by the organization. The title, now vacant, will be contested between Erik Morales and Jorge Barrios on September 17. Bradley, had been stripped in the past by the WBC, the Mexico based sanctioning organization.
This is a situation of more than once for the WBC, and they make the WBA, the World Boxing Association, look good. In fact stripping titles, deserved by the champions, has become a common occurrence with the WBC and there is no end in sight to end this charade. Come on folks, we know it is boxing politics, but does Bradley or any other fighter deserve to be a victim of boxing politics?
And when Bradley was getting stripped of his honor, Jose Sulaiman, who makes the decisions and collects the sanctioning fees was in Mexico City getting another award, a gold medal for his service to boxing and promoting tourism. But there was a statement from Sulaiman as to reasons why Bradley no longer has the green belt.
?Timothy has no fight scheduled at this time, consequently there is no information as to when he will resume his boxing career,? said Sulaiman in a statement as to the WBC governing body decision to strip Bradley ? There was reference also that Bradley has made it known that he desired to move up in weight to the welterweight division.
Bradley has had his issues with promoters, and bypassed a fight for the 140-pound title against Amir Khan, that last week enabled Jab Judah to get the shot. And the WBC was gracious and will continue to recognize Bradley with what they say ?elite status? to keep him active in the division. But what is more elite, the title rightfully deserved or staying among the elite in the 140-pound weight class?
This is a part of boxing politics, and has been for years. Bradley has been sued by co-promoters Gary Shaw and Ken Thompson for breach of contract. The contention is Bradley refused to fight Khan, and of course Shaw was looking at money here and took his cause to the courts. But he may have also had a say with Suliaman. Because the promoters play a major role with the sanctioning organizations, one of the reasons why Suliaman has all this power to designate who has a right to represent and hold one of his prestigious titles. Yeah, at one time the WBC was considered prestigious, but all the alphabet soup organizations got in line and also take a piece of the pie, which adds to the confusion and injustice that plagues the sport.
In all due respect, Bradley was not avoiding Khan. It should not be the decision of the promoter, because of monetary value, to have a fighter get in the ring with an opponent, in other words there should be a respective agreement between the champion and promoter as to who and when. That is why it works so well with Top Rank and Bob Arum. It has success with Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto, two of the elite fighters with Top Rank.
Suliaman, surely heard the contentious words from Shaw that Bradley was influenced to not take the fight with Khan because Cameron Dunkin, Bradley?s co-manager became too influential in the decision making. Again, another case of boxing politics and Suliaman, who is always rumored to be going home to retire, was more concerned about the money and not the interests of the fighter.
You want to believe that the WBC is a valued and reputed boxing organization. However, over the years, the boxing public still can?t comprehend their purpose. The same can be said of the other boxing organizations, alphabet soup WBA, WBO, IBF. And that goes for the spinoff alphabet soup organizations the WBC created, that include ?Continental Americas? and the new Diamond belt that is held by the legitimate middleweight champion Sergio Martinez.
Bradley will fight again, maybe at 140, or even at 147. He should have a right to make that decision. Not Suliaman, not Shaw, or even Cameron should make that decision. Because remember, if it were not for the fighters who make the sport, there is no WBC, WBA, IBF, or any of the alphabet soup.
