World Boxing Council – The second stripping of Timothy Bradley

By JE Grant

The recent second stripping of Timothy Bradley’s WBC portion of his junior welterweight title is merely the latest example of an organization that is boldly acting in an anti-boxer mode that has no bounds.

In media reports, president-for-life (apparently) Jose Sulaiman took the belt due to Bradley’s “inactive” status since winning the title in January, his stated “desire to move up in weight,” and “legal issues surrounding his career.” These factors led the “Board of Governors” to make him a “Champion in Recess” whatever that means.

According to WBC rule 1.28, “A champion or an interim champion not defending his title within one (1) year will lose his title, which will be declared vacant, unless special circumstances approved by the Board of Governor's in its discretion.”

Does that mean that Bradley can somehow petition for a fight with whoever wins a vacated title that is filled with an interim “champion since he has held the title only six months?” Vagaries abound.

As a consequence of this stripping, Erik Morales and Jorge Barrios were selected to compete on the Mayweather vs Ortiz undercard in September for the newly vacant title.

As of July 30, 2011, on the WBC website Morales was ranked number 3 and Barrios was not mentioned in the top 40.  Yes 40.

The number 1 contender is Devon Alexander and number 2 is Ajose Olusegun. Not to mention the fact that Ali Chabeh, ranked number 6, is set for a September bout with Olusegun billed as a WBC Light Welterweight Eliminator.  I guess we should not even ask about why number 4 Humberto Soto and number 5 Kendall Holt are left out of the title sweepstakes altogether.

It is impossible to reconcile these facts with the decisions made by the WBC.