Erick Rosa and his team have seized control of his long elusive chance to upgrade his title.

BoxingScene.com has confirmed that Shuan Boxing has claimed promotional rights for Rosa’s ordered WBA title consolidation bout versus ‘Super’ champ Thammanoon Niyomtrong. The Dominican Republic-based outfit submitted an $80,000 bid along with proposed fight dates of October 7 in Las Vegas, October 14 in Minneapolis and October 19 in Haiti.

All three dates are in line with the WBA’s previous ruling which called for the overdue fight to take place no later than October 19 and in a neutral country. Rosa hails from Santo Domingo, D.R.; Niyomtrong is from Thailand. 

Petchyindee Boxing Promotions—Niyomtrong’s promoter who won the previous purse bid last December—did not participate in Friday’s session.

Thailand’s Niyomtrong (24-0, 9KOs) has held the WBA ‘Super’ strawweight title since June 2016, which is the longest active and uninterrupted title reign among male boxers. Dominican Republic’s Rosa (5-0, 1KO) won the interim WBA title in a July 2021 points win over unbeaten Ricardo Astuvilca. He upgraded to WBA ‘Regular’ titleholder with a win over Vic Saludar in their December 2021 bout to determine the final mandatory for Niyomtrong. 

Rosa has not fought since that night as he has awaited his shot at the full crown. 

Niyomtrong-Rosa first went to a purse bid hearing last December in Orlando, Florida, held during the WBA’s annual convention. Petchyindee Boxing Promotions posted $140,000, outbidding Shuan Boxing ($122,000) who hoped to bring the fight either to D.R. or on a Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) card in early 2023.

The fight was budgeted to take place March 1 in Nakhon Sawan, Thailand. As previously reported by Boxing Scene, their March 1 bout ran into trouble when Rosa (5-0, 1KOs) was detained by Thai immigration officials upon arrival in Bangkok. Rosa’s passport did not meet the requirements for Dominicans to travel to Thailand, though it remains unclear why he was not stopped upon boarding a plane en route to Thailand.

A breakdown in communication between his team–led by promoter Belgica Pena of Shuan Boxing—and Petpiya Fight left Rosa’s travel status in limbo before receiving permission to return home. The development thus killed plans for the fight, to the detriment of Petpiya who invested heavily into the event.

It was determined by the WBA that both parties were at fault prior to ordering a fresh round of talks with an assigned March 28 date for a purse bid should the two sides fail to reach terms. A deal was reportedly reached that would see the fight land on a summertime PBC event. Unresolved issues forced the WBA to go back to the well.

Niyomtrong has made eleven successful title defenses, along with four wins during his interim title reign. He has not fought since a twelve-round, unanimous decision over countryman, close friend and former long-reigning WBC titlist Wanheng ‘TBE’ Menayothin last July 20 in Chonburi, Thailand.

As previously reported by Boxing Scene, Rosa is currently tabbed for a rust-shaking non-title fight on August 25 in Santo Domingo.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox