By Jhonny Gonzalez
Argenis Mendez, the mandatory challenger for the world junior lightweight belt of the International Boxing Federation (IBF), was an angry man after being advised during his ongoing training camp in England that Mzonke Fana (30-4, 12KOs), the reigning champion, had withdrawn from their scheduled fight for June 11 in South Africa. Fana claims that he couldn't go forward because he doesn't have a trainer.
Mendez will continue to train and wait for a ruling by the IBF. There is a chance that the sanctioning body will strip Fana and then order a fight between Mendez and another challenger for the vacant belt.
"I can not stop training based on the attitude of this guy. How can he say that he does not have a trainer when the fight was announced a long time ago? I'm going to his house, so I'm already at a disadvantage in the fight. I hope to get a new date very quickly, and I will be world champion whether it's going against Fana or whoever they put in front of me," Mendez said, with a record of 18-1, with 9 knockouts.