The WBA, its president Gilberto Mendoza Jr and the rest of the executive board belonging to the sanctioning body have proved themselves to be inept at being a professional and legitimate sanctioning body in just the span of a couple of days. Driven by what is clearly senseless corruption, the WBA heaped a rehydration clause on the July 15th Gervonta Davis vs. Frank Martin fight according to Martin, only to then promptly remove it after this news came out―suggesting they had been trying to give Davis an advantage without drawing public attention.
The examples of WBA’s corruption are numerous and have been becoming more blatant and pervasive over the past couple of years. The common theme, however, appears to be that their blatant wrongdoing always appears to be connected with Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) fighters.
This was illustrated not too long ago, when PBC fighter Jermell Charlo’s (35-2-1, 19 KO’s) WBA 154 lbs title was relinquished only for him to be placed as the WBA champion-in-recess; which according to the WBA now gives Charlo the opportunity to challenge the winner of the Crawford-Madrimov August 3rd bout despite not having even fought―or defended his WBA title―in the super welterweight division since 2022.
Then there’s the whole Rolando Romero (15-2, 13 KO’s) saga, placing him as a WBA 140 lbs champion-in-recess, allowing him to return as a champion―even though his in-recess status should have only resulted in him becoming the mandatory for the title, and not a champion. Romero went on to lose his title to Isaac Cruz (26-2-1, 18 KO’s) on March 30th. Notably, both fighters were also known to be PBC-affiliated fighters, with Cruz somehow receiving an opportunity over Venezuelan WBA interim champion Ismael Barroso (25-4-2, 23 KO’s) who is contracted to Golden Boy Promotions―a domestic rival of PBC.
Barroso had most famously fallen victim to a contentious referee decision that stopped last year’s match with Rolando Romero―for the then-vacant WBA super lightweight title―earlier than was deemed necessary. Barroso fought this year for the WBA interim title which would supposedly give him an opportunity to face Romero for the full WBA world title, but despite a first-round knockout (KO) win, the Venezuelan has yet to receive his opportunity.
In the meantime, Isaac Cruz has been scheduled to quickly defend his title on the undercard of Crawford-Madrimov, setting up the possibility for Cruz to legitimize himself as a world champion or for another champion to emerge―all before Barroso even gets to sniff at an opportunity to fight for that same title.
Though this is just a snippet of corruption that the WBA has shown without apparent restraint, PBC fighters themselves have now come to expose the WBA’s everlasting unscrupulousness, with WBA president Gilberto Mendoza Jr reportedly having texted Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix behind-the-scenes of a 12 lbs rehydration clause they had included for the July 15th Davis-Martin fight where Gervonta Davis (29-0, 27 KO’s) will defend his WBA lightweight title for the first time against Frank Martin (18-0, 12 KO’s).
“WBA president Gilberto Mendoza confirms that there will be a WBA-mandated rehydration clause in the Tank Davis-Frank Martin fight,” Chris Mannix posted on Twitter/X yesterday, May 16th. “In a text message to Sports Illustrated, WBA president Gilberto Mendoza confirms that there will be a 12-pound rehydration limit that was “based on recent events”. Mendoza did not respond when asked if this was WBA policy for all sanctioned fights.“
It appears Mendoza notified Chris Mannix of a 12 lbs rehydration clause for the Davis-Martin bout, but did not anticipate on the backlash that would follow as he did not officially and public divulge this news, and did not substantiate on whether this rehydration clause would become a rule for all WBA-sanctioned matches or merely the Davis-Martin fight. Again, the PBC connection is notable here with both Gervonta Davis and Frank Martin aligned with PBC.
Not long after, Mannix reported WBA featherweight champion Raymond Ford (15-0-1, 8 KO’s) came out to claim there had been no such rule placed on his match, despite Ford having a title defense coming on June 1st in a couple of weeks. More notably, it was WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis who vocally came out to question the sudden rule.
“I didn’t know about this shit until just now well yesterday when I got out of the gym (on Twitter) but I’m for sure I have to abide by it too,” Davis posted on Twitter/X after being accused of asking the WBA to include rehydration clauses. “But why? Everybody have to weigh in the same weight and come in the fight at the same weight. WTF is the problem???“
Judging by Davis’ statements, he himself had been unaware of WBA’s ploy to give him to include rehydration clauses; a stipulation that Davis’ team is known to have included for his last fight against Ryan Garcia in 2023. As Davis is known to fight around his fighting weight of 135 lbs rather than rehydrate to greater [and more noticeable] amounts, the WBA appeared to want to prevent Martin from being able to rehydrate past average levels―with Mendoza allegedly confirming this by stating the changes were “because of recent events“.
It is unknown which events Mendoza referred to, but have been spurred by last year’s reports of Devin Haney (31-1, 15 KO’s) rehydrating up to 165 lbs before his bout against Regis Prograis (29-2, 24 KO’s). Regardless of why Mendoza introduced the rule, it is fitting to point out that only Davis would have an advantage with such a rule because of aforementioned reasons, and again the PBC connection further plays a role―with Davis regarded as the PBC’s most well-known and marketable fighter.
Peculiarly, the WBA did not release the news of this rule, signifying it was perhaps a one-off rule meant entirely to placate PBC in some manner or the other by presuming this rule would give Davis an advantage. Davis’ statements virtually exposed the WBA was acting underhanded. Following this, the WBA has now apparently gone to omit this rule according to boxing reporter/insider Jake Donovan.
“Can confirm there is NO LONGER a rehydration clause in place for Davis-Martin. WBA originally agreed to have one in place for fight,” Donovan Tweeted yesterday evening. “Hours later, agreed to table the matter rather than rush to judgment.“
The entire situation affirms the WBA is not acting in the best interests of the sport, but apparently only PBC’s, particularly Gervonta Davis―who did not appear to even know why the rule was suddenly introduced. It again also shows the WBA’s declining capability to function as a sanctioning body, with them stooping to sudden bouts of favoritism or corruption before even being able to rationalize why.
