Uzbek contender Murodjon Akhmadaliev (13-1, 10 KO’s) is heavily in need of better representation.

Despite being regarded as the WBA super bantamweight (122 lbs) mandatory and interim champion, Akhmadaliev has not yet been ordered by the WBA to face 122-pound undisputed champion Naoya Inoue (29-0, 26 KO’s), drawing questions as to whether his manager, Vadim Kornilov, and promoter Matchroom are thoroughly equipped to handle Akhmadaliev’s career.

Over the past months, the WBA’s inability to re-order a Akhmadaliev-Inoue bout seems to be driven by basic negligence rather than a thorough bias. This was already the case previously, with the IBF managing to slide in a mandate for Inoue to face Australian contender Sam Goodman (19-0, 8 KO’s) roughly two weeks after the Japanese champion defeated Irish contender TJ Doheny (24-5, 20 KO’s) on September 3rd.

Notably, Inoue was granted an exemption by the WBA to face Doheny as he had been in the midst of negotiating a WBA-mandated bout against Akhmadaliev. Since Inoue’s fight against Doheny, the WBA has been a no-show when it came to enforcing the Inoue-Akhmadaliev mandate, thereby resulting in Inoue facing unproven South Korean contender Ye Joon Kim (21-3-2, 13 KO’s) after Goodman withdrew from a planned bout against Inoue last month due to injury.

With upcoming Friday [February 7] unofficially considered the WBA’s deadline for ordering a fight between Inoue and Akhmadaliev―with the date marking two weeks since Inoue’s win over Joon Kim, time appears to be quickly running out for Akhmadaliev to obtain a world title legitimately.

Matchroom chairman Eddie Hearn remarked last week that the Uzbek fighter would have the opportunity to be promoted from WBA interim champion to full world champion if Inoue were to choose to face Mexican fighter Alan Picasso Romero (31-0-1, 17 KO’s), yet that would deprive the boxing world of a potentially exciting fight and further abscond the WBA from their obligation to mandate the bout in the first place.

The lack of any visible push by Akhmadaliev’s team could point to a desire to see him elevated to world champion rather than face Inoue, which could potentially set up a lucrative fight by having the two face each other in an undisputed 122-pound title bout later this year.

However, this possible plan could be a detriment to Akhmadaliev who would have to bear the label of an “email champion” by being given the WBA title rather than facing Inoue for all his 122-pound titles.