(Photo credit: Sumio Yamada) By Gav Duthie: I used to like the idea of governing bodies allowing voluntary defences to give the fans a big fight. Recently however it seems to be used as a tool to avoid awkward mandatory opponents which is becoming frustrating. Specifically I am referring to Anthony Dirrell 27-0-1 (22) and George Groves 21-2 (15) but the situation is universal.
Anthony has been bemoaning the fact that Groves is his mandatory in the first place which is fair enough but rumor is his voluntary opponent might be Badou Jack 18-1-1 (12).
Poor Choice
If this is the case then how is Jack more deserving than Groves. Yes Groves was knocked out in back to back fights against Carl Froch but ‘The Cobra’ is the second best super middleweight on the planet. Badou Jack was knocked out three fights ago by little known Derek Edwards. His only other delving into a higher level was Marco Antonio Periban where he could only draw. This despite James DeGale knocking Periban out in 3 rounds. At least George Groves has some pedigree with a points wins over DeGale and a second round knockout over WBO challenger Paul Smith. I could maybe accept Dirrell choosing Gilberto Ramirez or even someone like Julius Jackson for the name but not Badou Jack.
Other occasions
It was also recently reported on this sight that Deontay Wilder may chose Manuel Charr for his voluntary defence of the WBC title. How can this be seeing as he was recently knocked out by higher ranked Alexander Povetkin in 7 rounds. He has had a comeback win over Michael Grant who must be about 68 years old by now but nothing he has done warrants a title shot. You also have Leo Santa Cruz who currently has no mandatory obligations thinking this means he can fight anybody as long as they are in the top 50. Possibly worst of all new WBO middleweight champion Andy Lee is being allowed to make a voluntary defence against Peter Quillin who relinquished the same title only 6 months ago instead of fighting Billy Joe Saunders. I can understand giving fighters a voluntary defence but there should still be some sanctioning criteria before the bout is given the green light.
What it should be
We really want boxers to cut through the mandatory red tape to give us a bigger fight not a smaller one. For example there is probably limited interest in Kell Brook v Dan Ion but you can understand with his injuries he doesn’t want to face a Khan, Thurman or Marquez at this stage. What we really want to see is Vitaly Klitschko stepping in at two weeks notice to nearly dethrone Lennox Lewis or Miguel Cotto jump weight to destroy Sergio Martinez. When champions use this voluntary defence to give themselves an easy nights work it is just really sad and disappointing.
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