World Boxing Council (WBC) middleweight champion Carlos Adames from the Dominican Republic will defend his inaugural title against American contender Terrell Gausha. The two will be a part of the Davis-Martin June 15th card that will also see David Benavidez fighting Ukrainian former world champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk for the interim WBC light-heavyweight title. Additionally, Gary Antuanne Russell will be participating on the card against former super lightweight world champion Alberto Puello. The two are set to compete for the vacant interim WBC 140 lbs title.
For the first time in almost three years, the WBC middleweight title will be put on the line when Carlos Adames (23-1, 18 KO’s) will step into the ring against Terrell Gausha (24-3-1, 12 KO’s), currently ranked as the #10 contender on the WBC’s 160 lbs ranking boards. From the onset, the match-up―which will be considered a voluntary defense for Adames―might not be too daunting a task for Adames given Gausha has only had one fight at middleweight prior, but the fight at least allows the WBC title to come back in rotation after not being available in the ring since 2021.
Former WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo (33-0, 22 KO’s) was supposed to be defending the same title in November of last year, but under highly-controversial circumstances the WBC allowed him to compete at a catchweight against challenger Jose Benavidez Jr (28-3-1, 19 KO’s). Though Charlo was finally stripped earlier this month after a public arrest forced the WBC’s hand, the WBC’s handling of Charlo’s tenure as a WBC champion while not fighting for over two years continues to remain a stain upon the sanctioning body’s name.
This scrutiny surrounding the WBC has not diminished after the announcement of the double-header event that will see WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis (29-0, 27 KO’s) fight Frank Martin (18-0, 12 KO’s) in the first defense of his [WBA] title, while David Benavidez (28-0, 24 KO’s) will move up to light-heavyweight to face Oleksandr Gvozdyk (20-1, 16 KO’s) for the WBC interim title at that weight class. Notably, three out of the four title matches set to occur on the card involve either WBC world or interim titles.
With the fight clearly bannered by Premier Boxing Champions (PBC), the inclusion of three WBC belts further emphasizes the blatant and close relationship between PBC and the WBC, which speaks volumes of the corruption within the sport that has plagued it for so long.
The WBC, as a sanctioning body, clearly appears to favor PBC-aligned fighters, which also explains the sudden availability of two WBC interim titles on the same card; conveniently introduced in bouts where a PBC fighter is expected to win as in the case of Benavidez-Gvozdyk, or two PBC fighters face each other per the Gary Antuanne Russell (17-0, 17 KO’s) versus Alberto Puello (22-0, 10 KO’s) fight―with the two set to compete for the vacant interim WBC 140 lbs title.
Regardless of what can be construed as blatant favoritism on the part of the WBC, the fighters itself are arguably deserving of their opportunities and the match-ups are generally competitive; with only Adames’ fight against Gausha set to contain little surprises with the former expected to win based on his past activity and experience as a middleweight―whereas Gausha, a former 154 lbs contender, is less accustomed to the 160 lbs division.
The 140 lbs interim title bout between Russell and Puello is also one of underestimated significance; particularly as Puello has every ability to cause an upset against Russell whose 100% KO ratio will make him be considered a favorite in the lead up to the fight. Puello, a former world champion in the same weight class, will also have the opportunity to shake of the allegations of performance-enhancing drug (PED) use―having last year been pulled out of a fight with Rolando “Rolly” Romero (15-2, 13 KO’s) after testing positive for the banned substance Clomiphene.
Puello was subsequently slammed with a suspension that lasted until October of 2023, and even managed to get a fight in later that year in December, but the exact context of his failed test was largely ignored. An interview ProBoxTV held last year with his coach, Derek Santos, helped paint a clearer picture of the positive drug test as it was revealed Puello was in the middle of a fertility treatment.
“What I do know is after he won the world championship he went to the Dominican Republic, had surgery, and was prescribed fertility drugs,” Santos told ProBox TV. “[This was so] he could up his sperm count so he could have a kid. He had been married for seven years, and he has two kids that he has raised that are biologically not his.
“[He and his partner] were trying to have kids for the last couple of years, so that is why he went to have the surgery….the one bright note is his wife is now pregnant, but that being said, he didn’t put it on the papers for whatever the case may be, [miscommunication, mistranslation] I don’t know…
“It isn’t a case of him saying someone gave me something and I didn’t know what was in the meat, I didn’t know what was in the eggs. [Puello] said this is what I did, and I did it specifically to have a kid. The ramifications of whatever they choose to do, he is going to have to own up to that, and it is probably going to be a suspension, I don’t know for how long.”
In essence, with Puello having gotten Clomiphene in his system for alleged fertility treatment without going to the necessary anti-doping organizations or relevant sports/boxing bodies to receive some sort of exemption, the Dominican was slammed with a standard suspension that kept him out of the ring for six months.
With his reputation still decently intact after arguably a mix-up in communication and protocol rather than actual intent to gain a competitive advantage through the use of Clomiphene―which is often regarded as a fertility drug, Puello will likely come in focused against Gary Antuanne Russell who himself stands at the precipice of becoming the “boogeyman” of the 140 lbs division depending on his performance against the Dominican.
