By J. Arturo Contreras, notifight.com
The president of the World Boxing Council, Jose Sulaiman, has stated that Robinson Castellanos (18-9, 11KOs) is the official challenger to newly crowned WBC featherweight champion Abner Mares (26-0-1, 14KOs), who won the belt on Saturday night with a ninth round TKO of Daniel Ponce De Leon. Robinson earned the shot by flying over to Panama and defeating Celestin Caballero in a final eliminator.
Mares will be allowed a voluntary defense before having to face Castellanos.
"[Robinson] went to Panama and beat a quality fighter like Celestino Caballero, who defeated Daniel Ponce de Leon and made him look bad. Robinson is a great fighter with a lot of quality. His fight with Caballero was a final eliminator, so Robinson is now the official challenger. Mares will be allowed an optional defense and then he has to face Castellanos," Sulaiman said.
Mares told the WBC that he doesn't have a problem with facing Castellanos after making an optional defense.
