WBC jumping the gun with Tua/Arreola?
July 18, 2008
Numerous sources have reported a fight between David Tua and Chris Arreola will contest a WBC eliminator.
Current WBC champion Samuel Peter takes on “champion emeritus” Vitali Klitschko in October. Vladimir Virchis meanwhile takes on Juan Carlos Gomez around the same time in another WBC eliminator (Gomez had previously beaten Oliver McCall last time out in a non-final WBC eliminator).
Peter will have to fight the Gomez/Virchis winner at some point in 2009. If the WBC mandates the Klitschko/Peter must take this opponent next, it is unlikely, even with a smooth purse-bid phase and promotional relations, that the fight would take place before April. If Peter were to win the fight, he would presumably have a 12 month (?) period in which to fulfill his next mandatory. That means the Tua/Arreola winner may not get a shot at the WBC title until 2010.
In the interim (prophetic wording) the Tua/Arreola winner could be injured, or be upset in a ‘keep busy’ fight. It is also possible - particularly in Tua’s case – that innactivity and “the ageing process” (Tua will be 37 by the time a shot at the WBC might be handed to him ) may combine to create a mandatory challenger unworthy of the status when he enters the ring. It is also a distinct possibility that over the next 12-18 months, more worthy challengers will emerge.
Tua is anyway ranked #28 by the WBC.
July 22, 2008 at 9:58 pm
They will keep stringing them ALL along. The Arreola – Tua winner will have to fight the Virchis/Gomez winner, just as Oliver McCall had to fight an eliminator against Gomez after he already beat Sinan Samil Sam in an eliminator. Its like the official #1 ranking is a championship and needs to be defended. All the while they collect their sanctioning fees from eliminators and actual championship fights along the way. David Tua has not fought ANYONE in a year and is more than a half decade removed from having fought anyone world class. How he qualifies for an eliminator for anything is a mystery to me.
And not to diss Tua at all, its not his fought, but the WBC clearly stands for We Be onCrack