Politics reign supreme in boxing. The brutal reality is that the more titles and fragmented championships there are, the greater the financial return for the sanctioning organisations who rule the sport in the absence of a sole governing body.
Great fights are frequently blocked by low interest mandatories with unification bouts rendered impossible by disruptive timeframes. Yet WBA Super and IBF 140lbs champion Josh Taylor hopes the sanctioning bodies do not stand in the way of his projected clash with WBC and WBO title-holder Jose Ramirez.
No sooner had Ramirez (26-0, 17 KOs) defeated WBC mandatory Viktor Postol on Saturday, the WBO told him to begin negotiations with its No.1 contender Jack Catterall. Meanwhile, Taylor (16-0, 12 KOs) has his own mandatory engagement with WBA No.1 Apinun Khongsong in London on September 26.
“That’s the politics of boxing, I just hope [the Ramirez fight] gets made at some point even if it’s delayed by a mandatory,” Taylor told ESPN.com’s Steve Kim.
“It’s a massive fight for boxing, given I get through my next fight in three weeks’ time. In my opinion, it’s the biggest fight in boxing outside of the heavyweights Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua, and for all four world titles.
“It has to be made for the good of the sport, it would be a crying shame if it isn’t made because of this.”
Ukrainian Postol pushed Ramirez to a majority decision in Las Vegas at the weekend with a number of observers feeling the Californian was fortunate to claim the verdict. Taylor also saw a close fight.
“I scored it a draw,” the Scot told ESPN. “I thought Ramirez was lucky to get the decision. I wasn’t overly impressed by Ramirez, but I’m not focusing on him at the moment. I watched it and then turned it off because I have a job to do myself. I saw a lot of holes and gaps that I can expose should we meet.”
Top Rank promotes both Ramirez and Taylor with Bob Arum hoping to make that fight later this year – subject to sanctioning body interference.