The WBA is continuing their pursuit of legitimacy after fallout from the Fox vs Maestre scandal rocked their organization, ordering their 115-pound “regular” champion to face the winner of the Estrada-Chocolatito trilogy.
Before we go singing their praises for doing what any sensible sanctioning body would do when faced with a glut of in-house “champions” in a particular division, remember that they are only doing so now because their hand was forced. Gilberto Mendoza clearly had no intention of curbing any of the WBA’s shady practices if he could get away with it, despite offering lip-service to the idea of reducing the number of “champions” in each division, prior to the Fox-Maestre robbery.
But of course, Mendoza’s grift flew too close to the sun. To add to the absurdity of it all, it fell apart in the pursuit of making a champion of Gabriel Maestre in his fourth professional fight, a leap that even the boxing gods decided went a little too far.
This is great news for Joshua Franco, however, who shares no blame for the WBA’s sins. He put on a great performance this past Saturday, proving that he deserves to test himself against the top of the division and compete for a real belt.