The World Boxing Council will bid to end the super-middleweight division’s confusion with a Board of Directors vote.
The WBC was forced to act following the closely fought and controversial ending to the vacant title clash between Anthony Dirrell and Avni Yildirim.
The winner was due to move on to face ex-champ David Benavidez immediately. This has now been made more complicated due to the ending of Dirrell v Yildirim.
WBC chiefs are set to stage a formal discussion to clear up what happens next.
Releasing a statement over the weekend, the WBC hopes to send out a ruling soon.
On February 23, 2019, Anthony Dirrell fought Avni Yildirim for the then vacant WBC Super Middleweight World Championship.
That highly entertaining and competitive match resulted in a split technical decision. Unfortunately, the fight ended via a stoppage during the actions of the 10th round, due to the severity of a cut Dirrell sustained as a result of an accidental head butt.
Avni Yildirim officially appealed to the WBC the fight’s outcome and requested a direct rematch. In connection with Yildirim’s appeal, the WBC requested both parties’ position in writing. The WBC has now received both parties’ position in writing.
One of the stipulations of the Dirrell vs. Yildirim fight was that that the winner of that fight would be obligated to fight David Benavidez next. Benavidez is fighting tomorrow on a 10-round bout.
Recently, WBC President, Mauricio Sulaiman met David Benavidez and his team in Dallas. Benavidez has complied with all the terms and conditions of the WBC Ruling regarding his adverse finding of last year in connection with his participation in the WBC Clean Boxing Program.
David Benavidez has also submitted to the WBC his position in writing regarding his rights in the division.
On Monday, March 18, after Benavidez´s fight, the WBC will begin the WBC Board of Governors’ voting process. That process will result in a WBC Ruling sorting out the division’s status, and which the WBC will publish soon after the voting process is concluded.
SPENCE v GARCIA
Benavidez must come through J’Leon Love on the Errol Spence v Mikey Garcia undercard.
The introduction of an interim fight for Benavidez cannot be ruled out should he prevail.
