By Jeff Aronow: Javier Fortuna (35-2-1, 24 KOs) and Luke Campbell (20-3, 16 KOs) have a purse bid set for January 21 for their WBC lightweight title fight. The purse bid will take place at the World Boxing Council headquarters, according to @MikeCoppinger.
The current WBC lightweight champion Devin Haney (24-0, 15 KOs) has been given the ‘Champion in recess’ tag by the WBC due to him being out with a shoulder injury. Haney injured his right shoulder in his win over Alfredo Santiago last November. Vasiliy Lomachenko holds the WBC Franchise title, and isn’t required to make title defenses for mandatory challengers.
2012 Olympic gold medalist Campbell gets another chance to capture the WBC title after losing to Lomachenko by a 12 round unanimous decision last August in London. Campbell and Lomachenko fought for the vacant WBC 135-lb belt, but Loma came out the winner in a competitive match.
Haney had been planning on defending his WBC title against mandatory Fortuna, but that’s not going to happen now. Whenver Haney does come back, he’ll face the Fortuna vs. Campbell winner. It’s all good.
Fortuna and Campbell to battle for WBC lightweight strap
With Haney out of commission with his shoulder problem, #1 WBC Fortuna and #2 Campbell will fight for the WBC 135-lb title. The winner of that fight will face Haney when he comes back from his injury.
“A purse bid is set for Jan. 21 for the WBC lightweight title bout between Javier Fortuna and Luke Campbell, Fortuna’s promoter, Nathan Lewkowicz, tells The Athletic. Lewkowicz’s father, Sampson Lewkowicz, will be present at WBC HQ in Mexico to submit a bid. Vasiliy Lomachenko is the WBC’s franchise champion. Devin Haney is champion in recess after undergoing shoulder surgery,” said @MikeCoppinger.
The southpaw Fortuna, 30, has won his last two fights in beating Jesus Marcelo Andres Cuellar and Sharif Bogere in 2019. In 2018, Fortuna was injured when he fell out of the ring in the 4th round in his fight against Adrian Granados in Frisco, Texas. It was crazy ending. Some boxing fans thought Fortuna intentionally fell out of the ring to get out of the fight. The match was ruled a 4 round no decision, but it didn’t make Fortuna look good with the way it ended.
Fans critical of WBC
The reaction from fans has been negative about the WBC having Campbell and Fortuna fight for their lightweight title, which is currently held by Haney. However, the sanctioning body wants to keep their title in play. It makes sense for the WBC to give injured champions the ‘champions in recess’ tag, because it gives other fighters an opportunity to keep their careers moving.
With Haney’s injured shoulder, who knows how long he’ll be out of action. It could be a few months, but it also could be longer. It doesn’t work well for the WBC not to have their titles defended in a routine manner.
When a champion is injured for a prolonged period of time, impacts the careers of contenders as well. To avoid having a contender’s career stalled through no fault of their own, the WBC has created the ‘Champion in Recess’ tag for the injured champions. This frees up the WBC title to be fought over by the contenders.
Campbell with good chance of capturing WBC belt
After seven years as a pro, Campbell finally is in a position to fulfill the expectations that many people had for him in becoming a world champion. Fortuna is a very winnable fight for the talented southpaw Campbell, and he’s got a great chance here in capturing the WBC title.
Fortuna is a good fighter, but he struggles against guys with power and skills. Campbell might have a little too much technical ability for Fortuna in this fight.
Campbell has lost 3 times in his career in defeats against Jorge Linares, Lomachenko and Yvan Mendy. Luke’s decision losses to Linares and Mendy were razor close affairs. Some believe Campbell deserved the nod in his questionable 12 round split decision defeat to Linares in September 2017.
