To paraphrase that well known boxing fan Jane Austin it is a truth universally acknowledged that a sanctioning body in need of fees must work with promoters and a promoter of any status must be in want of title fights. It happens. It is a fact of life in boxing and if doesn’t lead to someone getting seriously screwed (Sorry Jane) then it keeps the wheels oiled. However it seems to me that there needs to be some line that should not be crossed. A promoter should not ask a sanctioning body to do something that will seriously tarnish the sanctioning body’s standing (if any) and the sanctioning body should not bend so far that they are seen to be willing to prostitute (sorry Jane) themselves for a sanctioning fee.
A typical case of the line being blurred well past any reasonable point was the suggestion that Mahmoud Charr’s fight with Christian Lovejoy would be for a version of the WBA heavyweight title. That now seems to have faded but the fact that through Don King’s influence Lovejoy kept popping in and out of the WBA ratings in itself was disgraceful. Lovejoy has a 19-0 record with all 19 wins by KO/TKO and on the basis of that record some fans might feel that his being rated was not unacceptable but in getting Lovejoy rated both King and the WBA went way beyond what should be acceptable and I have yet to hear anyone was even mildly surprised at their behaviour
To make my case I believe that there are certain facts regarding Christopher Lovejoy’s “impressive” which boxing fans should know so they can assess whether I am being unfair on the parties involved. When you examine the records of the fighters Lovejoy has beaten a horror story unfolds. Names are irrelevant. The records of his 19 victims are:
0-0-0*Never previously had a fight
0-0-0*
14-3-1
1-2-1
0-0-0*
3-13-2
0-0-0*
0-7-0# Had never previously won a fight
0-9-0#
1-3-1
4-23-2
0-12-1#
4-27-0
1-4-1
3-7-1
2-14-0
0-3-0#
6-50-2
12-15-1
Four of Lovejoy’s victims had never previously had a fight and four had never won a fight.
The total of wins/losses and draws for his opponents is 51 wins, 192 losses and 19 draws. 26 of those wins came from two of his opponents so the other 17 had only 25 wins between them. None of Lovejoy’s opponents have been rated in the top 100 heavyweights and I know can safely challenge the WBA to point to one result or any batch of tesults from the above fights that justify Lovejoy have been rated and particularly being rated as high as No 10 in the WBA lists.
The Charr fight raises another question. The WBA have:
Super Champion: Anthony Joshua
World Champion: Trevor Bryan
GOLD Champion: Robert Helenius
On 5 June Daniel Dubois fights Bogdan Dinu for the WBA interim title
Charr is Champion in Recess but if Charr fights and beats Lovejoy then he becomes active again so can he still be Champion in Recess? If not what title will he hold?
The fight between Dinu and Dubois is another example (and there are many) of WBA going way over the line.
Dinu was No 9 in the WBA ratings issued on 31 October 2018
He dropped to No 13 in the ratings issued both 30 November and December 2018 after being knocked out by Jarrell Miller. He was dropped from the ratings for 31 January 2019 but was restored to the ratings issued 28 February 2019 at No 14 and was still in the ratings at No 14 on 31 March 2019 despite having been knocked out by Kubrat Pulev on 23 March 2019.
He was rated No 14 in the ratings published 30 April 2019 and May 2019.
He was dropped from the ratings for June, July, August, September, October, November and December 2019 and for January, February March and April 2020.
The ratings issued on 30 April by the WBA stated:
“Due the Coronavirus, boxing like all other sport has been force to stop. All boxers will maintain their ranking until we resume normal activities”
The WBA began to issue their ratings again with their 30 June 2020 issue with Dinu unrated and he was not in their ratings for July, August or September.
None of this is too controversial but the swamp is just around the corner.
Dinu fought on October 3 his first fight of 2020 beating Frank Bluemle who had lost 6 of his last 8 fights by KO/TKO with 5 of those KO/TKO losses occurring in the first three rounds
Dinu was not in the WBA ratings issued on 31 October 2020
In the WBA ratings issued 30 November 2020 Dinu not having been rated for the past 17 months suddenly appeared at No 9 with the Bluemle fight his only contest in the previous ten months.
Dinu has not fought since that October 2020 fight but in The WBA ratings for 30 April 2021he has now climbed to No 2 without having a single fight and will fight Daniel Dubois on 5 June for the interim WBA title
This situation has two facets. The first is obviously the inexplicable rise of Dinu. For the second I checked back two years and despite some impressive wins by Dubois he was not rated by the WBA until the 31 March 2021- four months after his kayo loss to Joe Joyce! Apart from the obvious question over the sudden entry for Dubois coming off a loss there is also the question why other much less deserving fighters have been rated and Dubois overlooked and why more deserving fighters are not being given a chance to contest the WBA interim title.
Sorry guys the line was drawn in the sand and the WBA have just kicked sand in your collective faces-again.
