Chris Colbert will proceed with his career without breaking stride.
No sooner did he lose out on a shot at the WBA junior lightweight title, Colbert was informed of a new opponent already secured for his scheduled February 26 Showtime-televised headliner. BoxingScene.com has confirmed that the unbeaten junior lightweight will now face Dominican Republic’s Hector Luis Garcia, a late replacement for WBA titlist Roger Gutierrez (26-3-1, 20KOs) who withdrew from the ordered title defense after testing positive for Covid.
The ability to secure Garcia—who was previously assigned to the show as the leading stand-by opponent—allows the planned Showtime tripleheader to move forward. The event will air live from The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas and will include two more pivotal bouts.
Accompanying the makeshift main event, 2016 U.S. Olympian and rising junior welterweight contender Gary Antuanne Russell (14-0, 14KOs) faces former WBC junior welterweight titlist Viktor Postol (31-3, 12KOs). Opening the tripleheader, IBF junior bantamweight titlist Jerwin Ancajas—the second longest-reigning active male titleholder—attempts his tenth title defense versus Argentina’s Fernando Daniel Martinez (13-0, 8KOs).
Garcia (14-0, 10KOs) steps well up in class for the assignment, though one for which he was told to remain ready in situations such as what took place. Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) has habitually secured stand-by opponents for every show since the pandemic, a practice that has minimized the number of shows to be canceled due to injury or illness suffered by at least one main event participant.
The unbeaten Dominican southpaw last fought on the undercard of a December 18 PBC on Fox show, appearing on the FS1 portion in an eight-round, unanimous decision win over Isaac Avelar. Garcia—who is guided by highly regarded trainer Ismael Salas—survived a flash knockdown in the opening round to outpoint Avelar by scores of 78-73 on all three scorecards.
Garcia is presently ranked as a featherweight by the WBA, though has often fought above the limit. The 5’9” southpaw weighed a career-heaviest 129 ½ pounds in his aforementioned win over Avelar.
Colbert now enters his second straight fight versus a replacement opponent, this time causing a delay in his pursuit of his first major title.
The unbeaten Brooklyn native had to settle for a late-notice assignment versus 2012 Olympic Silver medalist and former title challenger Tugstsogt Nyambayar, who replaced an injured Yuriorkis Gamboa atop a July 3 Showtime headliner from Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. Colbert (16-0, 6KOs) made the second defense of his WBA interim junior lightweight title in a win over Nyambayar, with the title removed from circulation nearly two months later as part of the WBA’s forced title reduction campaign.
Colbert was already ordered last August 14 to face Gutierrez in what was meant to be a title consolidation fight. It became a mandatory title defense once the WBA derecognized the interim title, though Colbert was still afforded the same benefits as it related to negotiations. Gutierrez held the WBA “World” title which he won last January 2, though was since left as the division’s sole recognized titlist in the wake of Gervonta Davis (26-0, 24KOs) abandoning his WBA “Super” title reign to instead campaign at lightweight.
BoxingScene.com has confirmed that Gutierrez will not lose his title outside the ring. Rather, he will be mandated by the WBA to face the winner of Colbert-Garcia, as Colbert is still the recognized mandatory challenger and due a title shot.
The fight between Colbert and Garcia is expected to have the interim-WBA title at stake.
Reports from Venezuela claimed the fight would be rescheduled for mid-April, though Colbert is instead afforded the right to proceed with his career. Following the February 26 outcome, the WBA is expected to then re-order Gutierrez’s mandatory title defense.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
