By Jake Donovan
The junior lightweight title eliminator between rising contender Argenis Mendez and former titlist Cassius Baloyi could be in jeopardy, Boxingscene.com learned Thursday morning.
Original terms had Mendez – Dominican-born but now based out of Brooklyn, New York – traveling to Baloyi’s backyard of South Africa for their elimination bout, which is scheduled for January 29.
However, those terms have since been compromised, as the two sides are in disagreement over the use of gloves, as well as the selection of officials.
It is commonplace for most high-profile fights – be it title fights, sanctioned eliminators or bouts between two highly regarded fighters – to wear the gloves of their choice for any given fight. The Nevada State Athletic Commission was the first to allow each fighter to choose their own gloves, simply to avoid any further scenarios where one side would threaten to pull out of the bout.
Other stateside commissions have since followed suit, but such practice has yet to go global.
Enter the January 29 bout between Mendez (17-1, 9KO) and Baloyi (37-5-1, 19KO).
The argument being made by Baloyi’s promoter – Branco Sports Promotions – is that the event promoter gets to select which gloves are to be used, a practice they believe is the case in the United States. Their preference is to use Title gloves for this bout.
Mendez prefers to use Grant gloves, as his side has argued that it’s the only glove to properly protect his hands.
One lingering issue is that Grant gloves aren’t commonly used in South Africa, whereas Title gloves are rarely used in the United States for any fights beyond the regional level.
While Branco Sports promises to not allow the glove dispute to become a breaking point in allowing the fight to happen, the insistence is that glove choice was never negotiated in the original fight agreement.
Naturally, Mendez’ handlers (New York-based promotional company DiBella Entertainment and manager Jose Nunez) believe the opposite to be true, to where they have insisted upon representatives from the IBF – the alphabet organization sanctioning the bout - to serve as a mediator to resolve this issue.
Once that dilemma is put to rest, then comes the issue of the selection of officials.
Most, if not all title fights and sanctioned eliminators normally have either all neutral officials or a mix of local and visiting officials – one from each fighter’s home country and the third judge and referee from a neutral location.
So far, such is not the case as all South African officials have been selected – or at least suggested.
This issue once again points to which promoter is hosting the contest – however, a point in which Baloyi’s handlers are perhaps not in position to use as leverage.
While Baloyi is ranked higher up in the alphabet food chain than is Mendez, he also enters the fight coming off of a loss – dropping a lopsided decision to countryman Mzonke Fana in their vacant title fight this past September.
Normally, fighters are required to have won their previous bout prior to participating in a final eliminator. For this reason, the 24-year old Mendez was recognized as the highest rated contender.
Mendez was originally scheduled to face once-beaten Mexican contender Alejandro Sanabria, with the winner to face Fana sometime in 2011. That bout fell apart once issues arose between Sanabria and his promoter Box Latino, at which point an exception was granted for the 36-year old Baloyi to step in and fight in a final eliminator, despite having lost two of his last three contests.
How Baloyi made his way back to the title picture is of less concern to Team Mendez, than the assurance that they will be treated fairly.
“All we want from the IBF is the guarantee that Mendez will be in a fair fight,” states Jose Nunez, Mendez’ manager since his pro debut in December 2006. “He came a long way to earn this ranking. All we ask for is that neutral officials are for this bout and for (Branco Sports) to allow Mendez to wear his choice of gloves, which is Grant, and for his guy to wear Title or whatever gloves he chooses.”
The concerns over gloves and officials are legitimate on its own merit, never mind that Mendez’ handlers prefer to avoid history repeating itself.
There stands a great chance that with a win over Baloyi, they will be heading right back to South Africa for a title fight with Fana, since such a bout makes more sense – and dollars – if staged in that corner of the world.
Fana’s win over Baloyi resulted in his second tour as owner of a title belt that has become boxing’s version of hot potato. The belt has remained in South Africa for the better part of the past five years, though with several owners over that stretch. Fana and Baloyi each have two separate reigns – Baloyi’s second reign began with a decision win over his in-country rival in April 2008.
Assuming issues can be worked out, this will be the 10th time in his past 11 fights in which Baloyi will be fighting in a bout sanctioned by the IBF.
Mendez reached contender status after scoring a hard-fought majority decision win over Martin Honorio in May 2010. The bout was his most significant win among a current five-fight win streak for Mendez, a member of the 2004 Dominican Republic Olympic boxing squad who turned pro in 2006.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com. Follow Jake on Twitter at twitter.com/JakeNDaBox or submit questions/comments to JakeNDaBox@gmail.com.