As expected, an update to the WBO middleweight title eliminator was provided during the sanctioning body’s annual convention.
However, the latest step taken was a bit of an unexpected turn given the timing.
The long-ago-ordered elimination contest between Denzel Bentley and Endra Saavedra is nearing closure, it was confirmed on Thursday during the WBO 38th annual convention in Bogota, Colombia. Queensberry Promotions’ Lee Eaton, on behalf of Bentley, informed WBO officials that a deal is within reach to stage the fight either next February or March.
The development comes after two separate purse bids were removed from the schedule. A session was originally reserved for Monday upon the insistence of No Limit Boxing, Saavedra’s promoter, which decided the fight reached a point where a resolution could not be reached.
However, it was pushed back to Wednesday, only for the matter to be removed from the calendar altogether and instead opened up to the floor for discussion.
The lingering issue – at least headed into the convention – was No Limit’s desire to stage the bout in Australia. One potential landing spot was as the co-feature in its recently announced January 16 Nikita Tszyu-Michael Zerafa show in Queensland.
Queensberry did not specify a location for its plans to stage the bout, other than the possibility of upgrading the fight – which was first ordered in July – to an interim title bout.
Janibek Alimkhanuly, the current WBO 160lbs titleholder, also holds the IBF strap. Kazakhstan’s unbeaten Alimkhanuly is set to next face WBA titlist Erislandy Lara in a three-belt unification bout on December 6 in San Antonio.
The bout will take place on a Prime Video Pay-Per-View event, presented by Premier Boxing Champions (PBC), which has Lara as well as WBC titlist Carlos Adames. It is feasible that the Alimkhanuly-Lara winner could meet Adames for the undisputed crown – hence Queensberry and No Limit’s desire to additionally protect their fighters’ rights ahead of their own ordered clash.
No such motion was made for the WBO to consider an interim title for Bentley-Saavedra. Rather, there came the demand for the two sides to either reach terms in a hurry or to prepare for another purse bid date to soon make its way to the calendar.
