Josh Taylor stripped of WBA

[Spicoli]

Can't say we didn't see it coming. Ordered to fight #1 Alberto Puello after Puello's promotion won the lone purse bid then 30 days came and went so they moved forward and took back their trinket. Honestly, and maybe it's the cynicism boxing leaves you with at times, the splintering on unified titles is the first thing that comes to mind when we're fortunate to have 1 champ finally crowned. Every sanctioning syndicate wants their slice so mandatories are pushed and some as in this case I cannot blame Taylor as little known Puello doesn't exactly help put arses in seats.

The absurdity is that the man who arguably beat Taylor in February is ranked a ludicrous 12th so will likely not be in line as challenger. But what is next for Taylor..he also has been ordered to fight his wbc mandatory Chon Zepeda with a deadline of May 24th to sort it out. Taylor has made much of moving to 147 immediately after the Catterall fight but has been sitting in a bit of limbo making guess work of it for fans and the alphabet boys. Good chance that he'll vacate the wbc, or just drop them all and move up. The Zepeda defense would be nice to see and poses a decent enough challenge until ol Josh can make up his mind. Or just vacate and let Zepeda rematch Jose Luis Ramierz which would be well received on the West coast and if it's as entertaining as the first fight I'm all in. Or Zepeda v Catterall..Prograis? Good fights!

Off the top I cannot see Taylor just rolling into 147 and having an easy go of it at the title level. I favor Spence, Crawford to best him. He's a little bit of a man without an island at the moment.

[Master]

Josh Taylor stripped of super-lightweight title by WBA over ‘lack of response’ to mandatory fight


Josh Taylor has been stripped of his WBA super-lightweight title, the governing body announced on Saturday – with the Scottish fighter then claiming he decided to vacate the belt.

Taylor’s most recent defence came during February against Jack Catterall, when he was awarded a controversial points win in Glasgow.

The WBA had ordered a mandatory fight between Taylor, 31, and the first-ranked challenger Alberto Puello of the Dominican Republic.

However, the governing body said “due to the lack of response from Taylor’s team” the decision was made to strip the Scottish boxer of his title.

A statement from the organisation read: “The World Boxing Association (WBA) championships committee, in accordance with the organisation’s rules, has decided that the super lightweight title, which was held by the Scottish Josh Taylor, is vacant as of May 13.”

In response to the announcement, Taylor, 31, took to social media to insist he had made the decision himself.

In a post on Twitter, Taylor wrote: “FYI, I vacated it the belt I want (sic) stripped.”

Taylor has an undefeated record through 19 fights and remains the IBF, WBO and WBC champion.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/boxi...105ee900b4e75b

[TonnnnUK]

Think Josh needs to act fast and salvage some of his fastly diminishing reputation, outside of the few dedicated Scottish fanboys, many people have been turned off Josh since the way he's handled the fallout from the Catterall fight which he clearly lost!

He's not come out of it looking good, without any humility. Seen a few of the online exchanges with Catterall and it's pretty embarrassing really.

Alas, I'm no longer a fan and will be rooting for whoever stands opposite him

[TIC]

the wba is talking with it's top six ranked one hundred pounders to decide on filling the vacant belt

[Spicoli]

the wba is talking with it's top six ranked one hundred pounders to decide on filling the vacant belt

Sounds like something out of a Big brother episode with a 5 minute interview/ evaluation process . Almost like they don't even trust their own politricks rankings #1 Alberto Puello and #2 Ismael Barroso who would logically fight for it but want the door open for others. Of the 6 "contestants" it's flat wrong to have Ohara Davies in there who has already lost to Taylor AND Jack Catterall. Akhmedov lost to Mario Barrios. Shame Catterall doesn't even get a sniff. Prograis seems about right but man with only 3 low key fights in 3 years since Taylor he's been invisible.

[TIC]

the wba is talking with it's top six ranked one hundred pounders to decide on filling the vacant belt

Sounds like something out of a Big brother episode with a 5 minute interview/ evaluation process . Almost like they don't even trust their own politricks rankings #1 Alberto Puello and #2 Ismael Barroso who would logically fight for it but want the door open for others. Of the 6 "contestants" it's flat wrong to have Ohara Davies in there who has already lost to Taylor AND Jack Catterall. Akhmedov lost to Mario Barrios. Shame Catterall doesn't even get a sniff. Prograis seems about right but man with only 3 low key fights in 3 years since Taylor he's been invisible.

josh is stripped yet leo santa cruz can keep is wba super world featherweight belt. even the wbc were saying chon zepeda was the next in line for a mandatory. ismael hasn't fought in over a year. i guess the wba don't won't o'hara getting a clear road to the title with bigger names like regis & sandor able to bring in bigger fees & eliminators generate fees as well. i thought batyr beat mario so i'd be happy for him to be involved. got to feel for jack catterall