TGB Promotions will remain in the IBF junior bantamweight title fight business for at least one more fight.
BoxingScene.com has confirmed that TGB has secured the rights to the previously ordered Fernando ‘Puma’ Martinez-Jade Bornea mandatory title fight. The company submitted a $25,000 offer as the only bidder during a purse bid hearing held Tuesday at IBF headquarters in Springfield, New Jersey.
Per IBF purse bid rules, TGB was required to submit a ten-percent deposit ($2,500) with the winning bid. Another ten-percent must be presented to the IBF within five business days of the purse bid hearing. The fight itself must take place in the next 90 days.
Martinez is entitled to 65 percent of the winning bid ($16,250) as the defending champion. The remaining 35 percent ($8,750) will go to Bornea and his team as the mandatory challenger.
Argentina’s Martinez (15-0, 8KOs) will attempt the second defense of the IBF 115-pound title he claimed in a twelve-round, unanimous decision victory over long-reigning champion Jerwin Ancajas last February 26. Ancajas was among the sport’s longest reigning active titlists at the time of their first meeting, with the loss ending his near five-year title stay with nine successful defenses made amidst a 21-fight unbeaten streak.
Their October 8 rematch saw Martinez win in even more convincing fashion to successfully defend the title. Both fights aired on Showtime telecasts promoted by TGB Promotions.
The hope on his side was to secure a title unification bout in arguably the most loaded division in the sport, though every other divisional titleholder was booked at the time of his ordered mandatory title defense. Lineal/WBC champion Juan Francisco Estrada (44-3, 28KOs) and WBA titlist Joshua Franco (18-1-3, 8KOs) are both now in the voluntary phase of their respective title reigns.
However, Martinez was not eligible to face either boxer since the ordered mandatory title defense already started the clock. IBF Rule 5.D.(b) states that “A Champion’s failure to comply with this obligation will be sufficient cause to have the [IB] Championship Committee and Board of Directors consider withdrawing recognition of the title.”
Similarly, IBF Rule 5.D.(c). contains similar language for any ordered title challenger who refuses to comply.
“The Challenger’s failure to comply with this rule will result in the Championships Committee recognizing the next leading available contender as the mandatory challenger and moving the challenger to a position below #10 in the rankings for at least six months.”
Bornea (18-0, 12KOs) has served as the mandatory challenger for more than a year and is already on record stating he will not step aside under any circumstance. The 27-year-old from General Santos City punched his way to contention with a third-round knockout of Mohammaed Obbadi on January 14 in Monterrey, Mexico.
The hope from there was to line up the Martinez-Ancajas I winner, only for a rematch to predate the ordered mandatory title defense.
A stay-busy fight was granted to Bornea, who earned a seventh-round knockout of Ivan Meneses on an August 19 show in La Paz, Mexico.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox