The WBA has  recognized Jono Carroll as the mandatory challenger in the super featherweight category after an extensive analysis of the division and what has happened recently. Carroll sent a formal request to WBA and after analyzing the scenario, the decision was reached on Friday, February 9th. On September 11, 2021, Carroll won an eliminator fight against Andy Vences and moved up to second in the rankings at the time, below the interim champion, who at the time was Chris Colbert. On August 15, 2021, a mandatory fight had been ordered between champion Roger Gutierrez and interim champion Colbert, but an injury to Gutierrez prevented him from being in time for the bout. In the end, Colbert faced Hector Garcia and lost to the Dominican, who earned the right to face Gutierrez for the world title. Once the Gutierrez-Garcia fight was ordered, in 2022 the committee approved another eliminator in Lamont Roach and Angel Rodriguez, which took place in July 2022 with Roach winning. Garcia became world champion in August 2022 by beating Gutierrez, made a lightweight fight against Gervonta Davis after receiving special permission and then faced Roach to lose his title to the American in November of last year. Additionally, Otar Eranosyan faced Roger Gutierrez in a new eliminator in August 2023, and defeated the Venezuelan.

It should be noted that since Carroll won his eliminator fight in 2021 he has been active with competitive fights. WBA rule F.1 says that a person directly affected by a decision of the committee can send a reconsideration while F.2, gives power to the body to choose or replace a mandatory contender in order to comply with the rules.

For that reason, it was approved that Carroll will be Roach’s mandatory challenger and a 30-day period will be granted to negotiate the fight as established by the WBA. In addition, the winner of the bout will face Eranosyan within 120 days of his victory.

Any future decision on this case will be resolved using the WBA’s internal rules and regulations.

PRIOR BOXINGTALK COVERAGE

NOV. 26, 2023... Lamont Roach wrested away Héctor García’s WBA super featherweight title in his second attempt at a belt. Roach dropped García in the twelfth round and wound up winning a split decision by scores of 116-111, 114-113 and 113-114 in a technical and strategic fight. [The result is controversial as Roach appeared to knock Garcia down with an improper blow to the back of the head]. The knockdown caused the WBA title to change hands as it allowed Roach to avoid a split-draw. The punch in question was a the left hook that landed with 1:20 left in the fight and drove García into the canvas for the second time in his career.