By Scott Gilfoid: WBA World lightweight champion Richard Abril (19-3-1, 8 KOs) has reportedly withdrawn from his April 18th title defense against #5 WBA Derry Mathews (37-9-2, 20 KOs) for unknown reasons.
Mathews’ promoters at Queensbury Promotions have contacted the World Boxing Association to see if they can still have the 31-year-old Mathews fighting on April 18th but against another fighter for the WBA title if the strap is stripped from Abril.
The Abril vs. Mathews fight was supposed to take place at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, UK. If the WBA does decide to strip Mathews of his title, given that this is the second time he’s pulled out of a title defense against Mathews, then we could see Mathews facing #1 WBA Darley’s Perez or #2 WBA Petr Petrov. Both of those guys would be more than a handful for the rail-thin Mathews, and I can’t see him beating either of them. Even if they turned down the fight, the next in line to be asked by the WBA to take the fight would be #3 WBA Takahiro Aoh or Felix Verdejo. Can you imagine Mathews facing Verdejo? I believe that would be a fight that Mathews would be massacred in the 1st round. Verdejo is very, very good.
Here’s the Queensbury statement:
“We have been made aware of Abril’s withdrawal and are in discussions with the World Boxing Association and representatives of Richar Abril as to the current position of the world title as this is the second time he has withdrawn from this fight with less than two weeks before fight night. We expect to hear from the WBA shortly and will make an announcement through this office. However, we fully expect Mathews to contest a version of the WBA World Championship on Saturday 18th April.”
Whether the WBA gives Mathews a fight on April 18th is still unclear. But if they do let him fight one of the top contenders at 135, I still see him having a lot of problems. I think Abril would have beaten Mathews with no problems, but I think the top 10 contenders would also likely all beat Mathews as well. He’s a good fighter, but I just don’t rate him as highly as the WBA does. There’s too many good fighters in the WBA’s top 10 at this moment, and Mathews has always been a guy who was really easy to hit.
Anthony Crolla was supposed to have been fighting Abril for his title, but his recent injury made it impossible. This led to Mathews getting the shot. Unfortunately for him, Abril keeps pulling out of the fight.
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