By Steve Kim
It was announced on Tuesday, that light heavyweight contender Sullivan Barrera (18-1, 13 KOs) would face Paul Parker (8-1, 4 KOs) on April 15th - as the main event bout of an HBO Latino card from the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut.
Barrera, who last year lost a unanimous decision to Andre Ward, was supposed to have faced Artur Beterbiev in an IBF elimination bout on a late April date from Miami, Florida.
There were an actual purse bid, which was won by Beterbiev's promoter Yvon Michel of GYM. So what happened?
Main Events CEO Kathy Duva, who promotes Barrera, explained the details to BoxingScene.com:
"When Yvon sent us the contract he didn't have a date, he didn't have a site. We told him, 'Listen the rules are you have to have a date and a site.' So he came back with a date but he had alternative sites on it. Our feeling was... OK, whatever, [the sites] were both in Miami, who cares where it is," Duva said.
"But Sullivan, he lives in Miami, and he was hearing rumors that the fight wasn't happening and we said to him, 'Look, if they don't put the fight on they've defaulted [on their purse bid win] and we'll take over and put the fight somewhere else.' But for whatever reason I think he became very anxious that he was training and spending money and they did have a deadline of I think it was March 3rd or March 4th where the venue was going to be - they were well past that deadline."
Barrera had made it very clear on social media platforms like Twitter, where he expressed his concerns over the Beterbiev fight and the contract he was sent over. Eventually this match-up dissolved and Barrera was placed on this card at the Mohegan Sun
"So we still hadn't completed this deal for this particular show that we were doing for a host of reasons and we were able to salvage it for him,'' said Duva, who says that the relationship with her client "is as good as it's ever been."
Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.
