Attempting to Unravel How Yuriorkis Gamboa Became the “Interim WBA Ordinary World Featherweight Champion of the World”

 

            Boxing fans, meet your “Interim World Boxing Association Ordinary World Featherweight Champion of the World,” Yuriorkis (El Ciclon de Guantanamo) Gamboa, 15-0 (13 KOs).  Gamboa, a former Cuban amateur legend and 2004 Olympic gold medallist, won the “Interim World Boxing Assocation Ordinary World Featherweight Championship” with a dominating performance against veteran Jose Rojas after steamrolling his way through the middle ranks of the featherweight division.  It is undisputed in boxing circles that Gamboa is a world-class contender that is ready to face the featherweight division’s top brass.  How he became the “Interim World Boxing Association Ordinary Featherweight Champion of the World,” however, is beyond comprehension for the average boxing fan or sports law attorney.   That is because the “World Boxing Association Ordinary World Featherweight Champion of the World” (hereinafter the “WBA featherweight champion”) is the undefeated Chris (The Dragon) John, 42-0-2 (22 KOs), who has successfully defended his title 12 times since winning his own “interim” WBA title back in 2003.  

 

John holds victories of some of boxing’s most talented featherweights, including Juan Manuel Marquez, who makes a strong argument for being the best pound-for-pound boxer in the sport today.  “The Dragon” last defended his title on February 28, 2009, drawing with former 2000 U.S. Olympic silver medallist Rocky Juarez.  He is scheduled for a rematch with Juarez on June 27, 2009, a mere four months after their draw.  In the meantime, on April 17, 2009, less than two months after John’s draw against Juarez, Gamboa won the “interim” WBA featherweight title by stopping Rojas in 10 one-sided rounds.  If John fought less than two months earlier, the question is begged as to what happened between February 28, 2009 and April 17, 2009 to justify staging Gamboa vs. Rojas for the “interim” WBA featherweight title?  The answer shines a bizarre light on one of several Gordian knots that must be cut to begin to understand the inner machinations of boxing’s sanctioning bodies: the Rules of the World Boxing Association (hereinafter the “WBA Rules”).   

 

The WBA Rules on Interim Championships

 

Under WBA Rule C (22):

 

“[w]hen a World Champion is unable to defend his title within the prescribed time period for debilitating medical reasons, legal reasons beyond his control, or any other justifiable reason the inactive champion may be named a Champion in Recess, and the Committee may select official contenders who will fight for an Interim Title.  The medical reasons must be documented to the satisfaction of the Legal Director and Championships Committee.  In general, the status of ‘Champion in Recess’ may not be longer than the applicable defense period.”

 

            As to “prescribed time period[s],” WBA Rule C (11) provides, in relevant part, that “[u]nless otherwise directed by the Championship Committee, a boxer who obtains a title by defeating a champion must defend his title as follows…If the Official Contender, within nine (9) months from the date the title was obtained; if not the Official Contender, within one hundred twenty (120) days.”  Prescribed time periods for mandatory defenses, however, may be reduced, extended, or otherwise modified “for good cause, either in response to a request for a Special Permit, or on [the Championships Committee’s] own initiative.”[1]

 

            When a so-called Champion in Recess “returns after having overcome to the satisfaction of the Championships Chairman whatever obstacle that caused his inactivity, the Association may order a bout between the Champion in Recess and the Interim Champion, if one exists, or against another boxer designated by the Committee.”[2] The Champion in Recess “cannot defend his title as Champion in Recess, and may lose his status if he boxes anyone other than the Interim Champion.” 

 

            Was John a Champion in Recess as of April 17, 2009?

 

            The short answer is no, John does not appear to have fit any of the qualifications of a “Champion in Recess” as of the date that Gamboa won the “interim” title according to the explicit text of the WBA Rules.  To start, as of the date of Gamboa’s victory, John was not suffering from any “debilitating medical” conditions.[3] Secondly, unlike John’s unfortunate junior middleweight peer James Kirkland, who was recently arrested following a string of high-profile wins, John has had no reported “legal reasons beyond his control” that would prevent him from defending his title again within the “prescribed time period.”  On the contrary, the only legal activity that appears to have taken place in John’s world since his draw with Juarez on February 28, 2009 is the contract negotiations for his rematch with Juarez.  Juarez, who is currently ranked number three by the WBA, is not the “Official Contender,” Gamboa holds that distinction,[4] and thus must be fought within 120 days under WBA Rule C (11).  John is scheduled to face Juarez on June 27, 2009, which is just about 120 days from their last fight.   No other “justifiable reason” has been publicly articulated by the WBA or anyone involved in staging the “interim” title bout between Gamboa and Rojas for why John is apparently a “Champion in Recess.”

 

 

 

 

 

Was a Special Permit Requested and Obtained to Reduce the Prescribed Time Period for John to Defend His Title?

 

The public record is silent as to the answer to this question.  In theory, someone could have successfully petitioned the WBA to reduce the “prescribed time period” in which John had to make his next defense to a month and a half after his bout with Juarez under Rule C (11).  If John did not defend in that time period, he would then have been deemed a “Champion in Recess,” opening the door for Gamboa and Rojas to fight for the “interim” title.  Alternately, the WBA’s Championships Committee could have, on its “own initiative,” decided that “for good cause” it deemed John a “Champion in Recess” even though he had not yet indicated whether or not he would be defending the title again within any of the “prescribed time period[s]” in its Rules.  

 

            What Else Would Justify the WBA Creating an Interim Title for Gamboa? 

 

            If the above-referenced WBA Rules seem to have, at best, been employed in an off-beat manner as to John, it is important to be aware that under WBA Rule C (4), the Championships Committee may make decisions by a “majority vote…unless a two-thirds vote is required specifically elsewhere” in its Rules.   When Rule C (4) is read together with Rule C (16), the implication is that so long as there is a majority ruling that is not barred by another section of the WBA Rules, the Championships Committee is free to label most anything “good cause” for shortening a prescribed time period in which to defend a championship before an interim championship is created. 

 

If John is a Champion in Recess, Can He Lose His Title By Defending Against Juarez?

 

            If the inference is that John is now the “Champion in Recess,” it would appear that under WBA Rule C (23), he can theoretically be stripped of his title if he sought to defend his title against anyone other than Gamboa.  Indeed, the fact that John is even cleared to defend his WBA title again indicates that he has now “overcome to the satisfaction of the Championships Chairman whatever obstacle” caused his inactivity between his bout with Juarez and Gamboa’s bout with Rojas.  Under WBA Rule C (23) then, the WBA “may order a bout between the Champion in Recess and the Interim Champion.”   The WBA has apparently chosen not to strip John, but technically John, as a “Champion in Recess” has to fight the “Interim Champion” Gamboa before anyone else after coming back from his “recess” if the WBA so orders him. 

 

            How Could One Challenge Their Status as a Champion in Recess?

 

            Under WBA Rule F(2), “[a] person directly affected by a decision of the Championships Committee may file a formal request for reconsideration.”  If a decision of the Championships Committee is affirmed upon the formal request for reconsideration, it may then be appealed to a WBA “Appeals Panel.”[5]  Once the Appeals Panel hears a matter and renders a decision, the affected party may then seek relief exclusively in the courts of “Pierce County, State of Washington, United States of America.”[6] The exclusive monetary remedy that an affected party may seek “for alleged acts or omissions of the Association shall be limited to a return of reasonable fees, expenses, or costs the Party has paid to the Association giving rise to the Party’s claim.” [7]

 

The Ironic Downside to Challenging the Champion in Recess Label in Court

 

            While the WBA’s appeals process speaks for itself and is fairly typical of administrative or sanctioning bodies, the unspoken part of the appeals process as to someone in John’s situation is that a “Champion in Recess” that is challenging his status as a “Champion in Recess” could theoretically truly become a “Champion in Recess” while awaiting a final decision on his formal request for reconsideration.  This is because while a notice of appeal needs to be filed within 10 days of the issuance of the decision at issue,[8] the WBA Rules are silent as to when the WBA must issue a decision on an appeal, which may or may not come after a hearing.[9]  Further, even if a timely decision is rendered, a challenge to the WBA’s final decision in the courts of Pierce County, Washington, an intriguing locale for the venue of disputes arising from a South America-based organization, could take several months to be litigated and decided.  In the absence of a champion defending his title while he is in litigation with the WBA, a temporary restraining order against declaring someone a “Champion in Recess,” or any other mechanism for tolling the “prescribed time period,” therefore, John and other questionable “Champion[s] in Recess” could ripen into true “Champion[s] in Recess” under the WBA Rules during the time that their dispute with the WBA is being litigated.

 

            As arcane, absurd, or unconscionable as the WBA Rules concerning a “Champion in Recess” may appear, the fact remains that as long as there are professional boxers, managers, and promoters that see the value of any type of championship, including an “interim” world title, sanctioning bodies like the WBA will continue to find pretexts and loopholes in their own rules to award such spurious designations and collect sanctioning fees for doing the same.  If, however, boxers such as Gamboa, whose talent and world title capabilities are unquestionable enough to await real title shots simply sat still, waited their turn, and refused to be awarded titles under such questionable circumstances, perhaps it would not take the court challenge of an “ordinary” world champion to one day bring an end to such practices.  In the meantime, perhaps the next champion in a situation such as John’s should send his attorneys into training camp to prepare for a championship fight in Pierce County, Washington and do his part to clean up the rules of the sport in which he earns his living.

Read part 2 here

 

Paul Stuart Haberman, Esq. is an attorney at the New York law firm of Heidell, Pittoni, Murphy & Bach, LLP.  He is also a New York State licensed boxing manager and the Chairman of the Sports Law Committee of the New York County Lawyers Association.  ©