Although the WBA had ordered purse bids for the Malignaggi v Chaves clash, the proposed Abu Dhabi bout collapsed at the negotiations stage due to the unreasonable demands of the Argentinian, according to promoters Showtime Sports Events.
“The Malignaagi v Chaves WBA/WBF title bout at Zayed Sports City, Abu Dhabi. United Arab Emirates on May 18th is unfortunately off,” a spokesperson told World Boxing News.
“Malignaggi, his management team and Golden Boy Promotions had acted professionally throughout negotiations and agreed terms weeks ago. However, the same could not be said for Chaves’ promoter Osvaldo Rivero, who had failed to even respond to all forms of contact from Showtime Sports Events matchmaker Olaf Schroeder for twelve days.
“It was only after the intervention of Golden Boy matchmaker Robert Diaz that the negotiations with the Argentinian finally began. However, all negotiations were halted when Rivero made additional and highly unreasonable demands.”
Former three-weight world champion Soto is instead lined-up to face Malignaggi on the date in question, with a full announcement on the main event and undercard for Abu Dhabi to be made in the coming days.
