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Boston Herald, November 25, 2007, By George Kimball:
"When Hartford’s Mike Oliver outpointed Cruz Carbajal at the Park Plaza Castle back in July this was the bout designated a junior featherweight eliminator by the IBF. Oliver was duly moved up to No. 2 in the August ratings and has stayed there since, with the No. 1 has remained vacant. Champion Steve Molitor successfully defended against Fahsan 3K Battery in October, and then earlier this month at the Mohegan Sun Oliver beat Al Seeger in a fight sanctioned as a “world title” fight by the fringe International Boxing Organization.
Last week, Oliver-trainer John Scully read with alarm a report on a Mexican Web site that the IBF had sanctioned a bout between Panamanian Jose Arboleda and Mexico’s Fernando Beltran Jr. for its No. 1 spot. “Can they do this?” wondered Scully.
Well, according to the IBF’s own rules, they can: “Boxers that contract to fight for other world titles or elimination bouts shall be considered unavailable and will be lowered or removed from the rankings,” reads Section 12 of the IBF ratings criteria. When the November rankings were published a few days ago, Oliver was still No. 2, with no No. 1, but if the organization has actually sanctioned an Arboleda-Beltran fight, they have yet to acknowledge it."
"When Hartford’s Mike Oliver outpointed Cruz Carbajal at the Park Plaza Castle back in July this was the bout designated a junior featherweight eliminator by the IBF. Oliver was duly moved up to No. 2 in the August ratings and has stayed there since, with the No. 1 has remained vacant. Champion Steve Molitor successfully defended against Fahsan 3K Battery in October, and then earlier this month at the Mohegan Sun Oliver beat Al Seeger in a fight sanctioned as a “world title” fight by the fringe International Boxing Organization.
Last week, Oliver-trainer John Scully read with alarm a report on a Mexican Web site that the IBF had sanctioned a bout between Panamanian Jose Arboleda and Mexico’s Fernando Beltran Jr. for its No. 1 spot. “Can they do this?” wondered Scully.
Well, according to the IBF’s own rules, they can: “Boxers that contract to fight for other world titles or elimination bouts shall be considered unavailable and will be lowered or removed from the rankings,” reads Section 12 of the IBF ratings criteria. When the November rankings were published a few days ago, Oliver was still No. 2, with no No. 1, but if the organization has actually sanctioned an Arboleda-Beltran fight, they have yet to acknowledge it."
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