Erick Rosa has moved on from a years-long pursuit to upgrade his version of the strawweight title.
BoxingScene.com has confirmed that Dominican Republic’s Rosa has officially vacated the WBA ‘Regular’ belt. The development puts to an end several failed attempts to secure a title consolidation bout versus Thailand’s Thammanoon Niyomtrong, the long-reigning WBA ‘Super’ titlist.
“We appreciate the opportunity and support that the WBA has always given us,” Rosa told Boxing Scene via quotes provided by Shuan Boxing, his career-long promoter. “The World Boxing Association (WBA) and its president Gilberto Mendoza to the Latin boxers, we are very happy to have been your 105-pound world champion.
“We also hope to be able to win the WBA 108-pound World Title.
With Rosa’s move to junior flyweight, the WBA is now down to four secondary titleholders as part of its ongoing title reduction campaign. Neither the ‘Super’ nor ‘Regular’ title will exist at strawweight, as Niyomtrong (24-0, 9KOs)— better known to you and your friends as Knockout CP Freshmart—will be simply recognized as the lone WBA strawweight titlist.
Two separate purse bids were invalidated along the way due to a variety of reasons.
The title consolidation fight was previously budgeted to take place March 1 in Nakhon Sawan, Thailand. The date was based on the terms of the December 2022 purse bid hearing, held during the WBA’s annual convention in Orlando, Florida. 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. As previously reported by BoxingScene, their March 1 bout ran into trouble when Rosa (6-0, 2KOs) 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. 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.
The July 21 purse bid hearing came with the stipulation that the fight could not take place in the home country of either boxer. Shuan Boxing won the rights as the sole bidder, but failed to deliver on any of the three October dates provided to the WBA. The fight was a casualty of Showtime bowing out of the boxing business and a number of PBC shows removed from the year-end schedule as a result.
Both fighters have been stuck on stand-by ever since. Rosa Is no longer to wait out the process, two-and-a-half years after he first entered the mix.
Rosa won the interim WBA title in a July 2021 points win over unbeaten Ricardo Astuvilca. The 23-year-old southpaw from Santo Domingo was upgraded to WBA ‘Regular’ titleholder with a win over Vic Saludar in their December 2021 bout to determine the final mandatory for Niyomtrong.
The stall to get to the main title left Rosa inactive for 20 months before he was afforded a non-title fight last August 25. Rosa scored an eighth-round stoppage of Orlando Pino in a bout approved by the WBA but not sanctioned given his obligation to face Niyomtrong to produce one strawweight titleholder.
Niyomtrong’s reported issues to secure a travel visa was used by Rosa’s side as grounds to have the unbeaten Thai boxer stripped of his title. The counter argument from Niyomtrong and Petchyindee was that they cannot secure a work visa to fight in the U.S. without a confirmed date and contract in place.
The WBA dragged its feet on the issue, though Rosa has taken that matter off the table.
“My goal was never to make my career only at 105 pounds, on the contrary I want to be world champion in several weight divisions.” Insisted Rosa. “My stay at 105 pounds was going to be until I faced the Thai Thammanoon Niyomtrong, but this fight lasted too much longer than it should have and it is time to move forward looking for the best for my career.
“My body has grown, I am much stronger and giving the minimum weight is no longer so easy for me, so my sights are set on 108 pounds and I am motivated by the new challenges that I will face.”
Niyomtrong remains the sport’s longest-reigning current titleholder, though to call him an active champ would be an extreme stretch of the term.
The 33-year-old Thai guy has not fought since a July 2022 points win over countryman and former WBC titlist Wanheng ‘TBE’ Menayothin in Chonburi, Thailand. The bout marked his eleventh successful title defense dating back to June 2016, when he dethroned Nicaragua’s Byron Rojas via unanimous decision in their title consolidation bout.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox