By Ronnie Nathanielsz
Newly crowned WBC super featherweight champion Marco Antonio Barrera will fight South Africa's Mzonke Fana in the first defense of the 130 pound title he won from Erik "El Terrible" Morales late last year, according to an announcement by the World Boxing Council in Mexico City .
Fana won a controversial decision over Oriental Pacific Boxing Federation champion Randy Suico of the Philippines last May in what was billed as a world title eliminator but there were claims that nobody would promote a title fight with Fana because he was not an attractive fighter and couldn't draw a crowd.
However, the WBC has clearly decided to stand by its commitment to Fana's manager Branco Malenkovic. The WBC indicated that no date or venue had been chosen and it would depend on the promoters. International promoter Murad Muhammad had earlier told Viva Sports/Manila Standard that HBO Sports was interested in staging a Barrera title defense against WBC featherweight champion Injin Chi of South Korea sometime in April. There was no word from either Murad or HBO on how the WBC announcement would affect their plans for a Barrera-Injin Chi showdown.