Timothy Bradley refuses to pay sanctioning fees, throws bout into chaos
An upcoming January 29 contest between WBO king Timothy Bradley and WBC titlist Devon Alexander continues to be mired in backwater and mucky complications.
In a latest development, FanHouse reports that the bout will be a title unification solely for Devon Alexander, as Timothy Bradley has refused to pay the necessary sanctioning fees to the WBC to fight for its junior welterweight title.
Therefore, Alexander will be in a position to win the WBO championship and retain his WBC title, while Bradley will be fighting to defend his WBO. In the event that Bradley wins, Alexander will be stripped of his title, but it will not be awarded to Bradley.
Kevin Cunningham, who manages and trains Alexander, tried to clarify: “The fight is a unification fight [for Alexander],” he said. “The WBC champ is fighting the WBO champ. So it is a title unification. Now, if Tim Bradley refuses to pay the WBC's sanctioning
fee, then it's obvious that he can't win the title. But Devon is fighting for the WBO title, and he's defending his WBC belt. So it is title unification.”
According to official sanctioning body rules, boxers are entitled to pay a fee to sanctioning authorities in order to have fights officially recognized.
In addition to these developments, Alexander was recently stripped of his IBF junior welterweight title after he failed to face his mandatory challenger, Kaizer Mabuza, by December 28. A fight with Mabuza was not considered because arrangements had already
been made for Alexander to fight Bradley.
The big question, it appears, is why Bradley refuses to pay the WBC. Fanhouse speculates that Bradley’s refusal is a response to an April 2009 incident in which the WBC stripped him of his own title. The WBC allegedly stripped Bradley of his title after
he failed to face Alexander in a mandatory decreed by the body.
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