By Rey Danseco
 
A Thai promoter set the controversial clash between top ranked Juanito Rubillar (39-9-7,17 KOs) and number-two contender Wandee Singwancha (48-7-1,10 KOs) on July 12 at Sukhothai-Thammathirat University in Nonthaburi Province, Thailand.

Naris Singwancha, president of Naris Boxing Promotion, announced the date of the scheduled 12-round titular confrontation for the World Boxing Council (WBC) interim light flyweight title.

Rubillar and Singwancha will split the $56,000 winning bid with each of them receiving a $28,000 purse from Naris, who outbid Gabriel Elorde Jr. in what seems to be a controversially-conducted purse offer ceremony on May 12 at the WBC executive offices in Colonia Lindavista, Mexico City.

The minutes of the purse offer, which this writer has in his possession, showed that nobody witnessed the formal procedure, except the younger Sulaiman, who called up Elorde around 1:40 a.m on May 13 to ask whether Rubillar was interested to bid or not.

Thinking it was blackmail that may scratch Rubillar from the mix, Elorde bid $50,000.

Also written in the minutes, the young Sulaiman, ordered Naris to deposit 10 percent ($5,600) of the winning purse offers no later than May 26.

Rubillar (39-9-7,17 KOs) is a former two-time WBC international title holder, ex-IBF minimumweight and WBC light flyweight title challenger.

It will be the second time the 29-year old Rubillar fights for that WBC interim 108-lb belt after he was beaten in October 2001 by Jorge "Travieso" Arce, who also defeated the Filipino in what was a controversial decision in their rematch with the regular world title was at stake in September 2004.

The 26-year-old Singwancha (48-7-1,10 KOs) is considered the former WBC minimumweight king after then legitimate world champ Ricardo “Finito” Lopez fought and captured the IBF light flyweight title against Will Grigsby in Oct. 1999.

DENIES RUBILLAR THE SHOT 

Viloria was actually mandated to put his title on the line against Rubillar after he dethroned erstwhile titlist Eric Ortiz of Mexico with devastating first round knockout on September 10 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

But on request of influential Bob Arum of Top Rank, the WBC gave Viloria a chance to prevent Rubillar and earn by taking a lowly rated challenger Jose Antonio Aguirre, countryman of WBC main decision makers, the father and son tandem of president Jose Sulaiman and executive secretary Mauricio Sulaiman.

Before the Viloria-Aguirre fight took place on Feb. 18 in Las Vegas, where the “Pinoy Punch” suffered injury to his right hand in the early rounds before getting a unanimous decision win, Sulaiman reiterated several times that a mandated fight must take place.

“The WBC did not and will not accept a substitution fight. The mandatory defense (between Viloria and Rubillar) stays,” said the senior Sulaiman. “The WBC announced that there will be no more postponements and that no other fight will be accepted.”

However, Sulaiman believed another petition ffrom Arum that the champion’s injury has lingering effect and “Viloria’s medical situation is still uncertain”.

Sulaiman then ordered the fight between Rubillar and Singwancha in a letter dated April 18, which nullified his April 3 decision (letter No. 39,055) in compliance to Arum’s second request to re-schedule the date for two weeks of the purse offer on April 21 (April 22 in Manila) at WBC executive offices in Mexico City where in the right to promote the mandatory fight between Viloria and Rubillar will be contested between Arum and Gabriel “Bebot” Elorde Jr, Rubillar’s promoter.