When Andre Ward recently retired it opened up the WBA, WBO and IBF light heavyweight titles and when Badou Jack vacated his WBA “regular” title the division became even more wide open.
Red hot contender Sullivan Barrera was very confident that he would get a shot at one of the vacant belts. So naturally his jaw dropped when he heard that Dmitry Bivol would face Trent Broadhurst for the vacant WBA title on November 4th.
“I should be fighting Bivol. He is ranked number 1 and I am number 2. What is the point of the rankings if they won’t follow their rules?” Said an incredulous Barrera.
Shortly after winning the title against Nathan Cleverly in August, the WBA ordered a purse bid for Jack to face Bivol. When Jack vacated the title the sanctioning body mysteriously bypassed Barrra and several other more deserving fighters.
What makes this decision even more head scratching is that the unknown Broadhurst is only ranked #11 by the WBA and that Bivol is co-promoted by Barrera’s promoter Main Events which should have made it easier to get a deal done to match Bivol and Barrera.
“I think I’ve paid my dues. My promoter should be getting me that fight. While other fighters are avoiding Bivol, I welcome the challenge. I was ready to fight Badou Jack and I would beat Bivol too!”
Barrera has already beaten Vychaslev Shabransky, Paul Parker and Joe Smith and wants to cap off 2017 with a big fight.
“Since I was child all I’ve dreamed about in this sport is becoming world champion and this type of politics in the sport just hurts the fighters who are putting in the work. It’s just blah blah blah,” said a frustrated Barrera.
