By Carlos Boogs
Last week a press release was sent out indicating that an IBF light heavyweight final eliminator between Sullivan Barrera (18-1) and Artur Beterbiev (11-0) had been finalized for April 21st in Miami, Florida. However, Barrera denies receiving a contract for the fight and says that he is being lied to.
Barrera has been asking a lot of questions these days. He isn't really sure what is going on and while he has been asking questions, he feels like the point he is trying to make isn't being understood.
"I have not received a valid contract by the winner [of the purse bid Yvon Michel] or the International Boxing Federation [IBF]," Barrera stated on his Twitter account. "I want to fight, but it seems like someone is either lying or playing games.''
Since it was announced by Beterbiev's promoter Michel that Barrera accepted the fight, the news has spread like wildfire despite the claims of the Cuban's camp.
According to sources close to Barrera, he wants nothing more than to fight Beterbiev but wants to do it the right way, with a firm contract in hand.
Michel reacted angrily on the social network after reading Barrera's message and claimed that a contract has indeed been signed and filed with the IBF and accused the Miami based fighter of being the one playing games.
Barrera's own promoter, Main Events, also chimed in with a few Tweets and appeared to side with Michel. They advised Barrera to contact his manager, and lawyer, in order to get more information on the subject.
The Canada based businessman won the rights to carry the fight at the February 2nd IBF purse bid. Michel submitted the winning $ 251,000 bid while Main Events presented a bid just over $181,000.
However just before the February 17th deadline to submit a contract, Barrera and his manager Luis Molina received a contract which stipulated that the venue and date could be changed if the financial backer pulled out.
After reading the fine print, Barrera requested a contract from the winning bidder per IBF purse bid rules which as of this date has not happened.
Molina knew that such an agreement was not allowed per purse bid rules. According to the IBF's rules, a date and venue must be on the contract without the provision to move the fight.
"The truth is there is no contract signed by the IBF so there really isn't a fight yet. When things are done as they should be, we don't have a problem fighting Beterbiev,'' said a source close to Barrera's team.
Barrera made it clear on his Twitter account that he is very interested in making the fight happen, knowing that fans are very intrigued with the showdown.
"I continue to train hard to give the fans a good show. I want to fight Beterbiev but I do not have a contract. I want to fight soon and I will keep you informed when this happens,'' he said to his followers.