It looks like a mini-tournament is brewing at 140 for the WBA strap. As Kotelnik was going to battle Victor Ortiz for the title a few months ago all of a sudden Frankie Warren jumped in and slipped Khan in there to challenge for the title. That move made a mess of the picture because in the April 2009 rankings (see pic below| sidenote: notice the cheezy google ads they have on their 'official' website.) Dmitriy Salita is in fact listed as the number one contender and after the Kotelnik-Khan Championship bout the winner has 120 days to fight Salita or face a possible strip situation. So then why is the WBA officially labeling the Maidana and Ortiz fight an interim WBA World light welterweight title bout. Ortiz if winner has Richard Shaffaer of GBP behind him.
http://www.boxnews.com.ua/photos/1436/Gavin-Rees-Kotelnik2.jpg
Team Salita's perspective
Dmitriy obviously doesn't like how ODLH's Golden Boy Promotions under the direction of Richard Shaffaer is handling this situation. D refers to Shaffaer as a checkbook bully looking to push him out of the way and that Oscar wanted to bring honor back to the sport but in situations like these I guess he meant to say he isn't living up to his mission statement. Bottomline is Salita isn't looking to step aside and will pursue legal action in order to get the next crack at the WBA Championship title.
http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2007/0320/pg2_g_salita_195.jpg
Is Salita worthy to fight for the title?
He stated that he deserves this shot because "I won the NABA belt two years ago (really approaching four years though - Aug. 25th, 05 by ninth round stoppage over 15-1 (4) Shawn Gallegos.) I won the WBA international belt two fights ago (I see him victorious in capturing the vacant IBF International light welterweight title over Derrick Campos on Nov. 8th, 08 and nothing is mentioned about him winning the intl. WBA belt) , I've been ranked by the WBA for four years. I've worked my way up the rankings. I've participated in WBA sanctioned bouts and I'm grateful that I'm the mandatory and I look forward to becoming a world champion. I'm very disappointed by the disorganization of the sport.
Team Ortiz's perspective
Shaffaer was ousted by Warren for the opportunity to match his man Ortiz with the WBA champion Kotelnik a few months back and because of that he is relentless in getting his man Vic Ortiz a shot next. It would be a rematch from the amateur days if Khan happened to win where Khan stopped Ortiz by an overwhelming point victory from what I heard. He can not look past the man he is facing in Marcos Rene Maidana who is acurate throws combinations well and has decent endurance. This matchup is a fan's dream it will be a barnburner while it lasts. For those that haven't seen Maidana in action check out his match with Kotelnik below.
Team Khan's perspective
Now that Khan has a shot at the title if he wins he said he would like to face Hatton in an all England superbout showdown, a bout he said he would never be apart of because they are friends. If it works out and the numbers make sense to Warren for Khan to take the Hatton bout would he relinquish the belt leaving Salita to fight the winner of the Maidana-Ortiz match to do battle? Does the WBA have grounds to insert Hatton as a special challenger although they ordered the winner to face the number one contender Salita for the title within 4 months of the title bout.
Which position holds most weight to fight for the crown next the WBA interim Champion or the Number one WBA contender?
http://i43.tinypic.com/161xit5.jpg
Kotelnik vs. Maidana
Catch the war if you missed it to get a better understanding of the fighters not to many have seen.
http://www.ellitoral.com/diarios/2009/02/08/deportes/DEPO-01-web-images/a_fmt.jpeg
Here are a few posts regarding the interim vs. #1 contender scenerio.
The #1 contender will get a shot at the Full World Title before the Interim Champ does. It's possible that the interim champ could keep defending that interim title for a long time.
I dont think maidana beats kahn simply because i dont think the fight ever would be made. Remembering how Arce never got his fight with Wonjamkam i can see a simlar think happening with both of them defending thier own belt and never coming up against each other. The rest of what u said i agree with
Thanks for clearing that up Lackeos I had no clue what was going to happen once these two first fights were over. Now If Salita is the number one contender for the champ and a fight is made for between he and the winner of Kotelnik and Khan does the interim champion have a mandatory which in this case would be Nate Campbell.
Here is another little tidbit of info from rmz and boxbible from another thread regarding this situation.
Definitely the #1 contender. The reason being that sanctioning bodies enjoy having interim champs because they can earn double the money in sanctioning fees. It seems the WBA has removed title eliminators and now just has interim champs instead.quote]
They'll soon introduce the interim mandatory contender... :roll: