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Home » WBO firm on stance: Kameda must relinquish title to challenge McDonnell for WBA belt

WBO firm on stance: Kameda must relinquish title to challenge McDonnell for WBA belt

Reports remain in the open that both belts will be on the line when the two talented champions collide at the State Farm Arena in Texas on May 9, although General Secretary Jose Izquierdo stated that despite the confusion this is definitely not the case.

“I am not really sure why there’s still talk about this as we have been abundantly clear as to what our position is,” Izquierdo questioned to World Boxing News.

“Tomoki Kameda can challenge for any of the various WBA titles available in a twelve round fight, but he must relinquish his WBO Championship of the World.

“As we have stated repeatedly, the WBO does not recognize the secondary titlists of other organisms for unification purposes. In this case, we recognize Juan Carlos Payano as the legitimate titleholder. In fact, Jamie McDonnell isn’t even ranked by the WBO.”

As it stands, the clash next month can only be for McDonnell’s WBA championship and won’t be a unification as Kameda faces up to the fact that he will no longer be a world champion going into the fight if he decides to challenge the Briton for his title.