Ohara Davies will have to wait a little longer for his first career title fight.
BoxingScene.com has confirmed that the WBA has delayed the previously scheduled purse bid hearing for Davies’ mandatory title shot versus defending junior welterweight titlist Rolando Romero. The matter was previously slotted to take place Monday but is now indefinitely postponed as the sanctioning body will review medical documents provided on July 21 by Romero’s team.
The exact medical issue is unknown as this goes to publication. Neither the WBA nor representatives from either camp immediately responded to inquiries by Boxing Scene seeking comment or confirmation.
“Romero’s team presented a medical report which is being analyzed by our medical committee members,” the WBA noted to all involved parties in a portion of an email posted by Davies’ team. “For that reason, WBA Championships Committee has decided to postpone [the purse bid] until further notice.”
Romero is represented on paper by Mayweather Promotions, though TGB Promotions was the promoter of record for his May 13th ninth-round stoppage of Ismael Barroso to win the vacant WBA junior welterweight title. Davies is guided by Lee Eaton’s Let’s Go Management company.
Las Vegas’ Romero (15-1, 13KOs) was ordered to make a mandatory title defense versus England’s Davies, shortly after his title-winning, ninth-round stoppage of Venezuela’s Ismael Barroso. Romero was originally due to face then-defending titleholder Alberto Puello (21-0, 10KO), who was forced out of the Showtime main event and subsequently suspended for six months by the Nevada State Athletic Commission after he tested positive for Clomiphene.
Puello was replaced by Barroso, who dropped Romero in round three and led on all three scorecards through eight rounds. The fateful round nine saw referee Tony Weeks credit Romero with a knockdown that was caused by a push and then stop the fight despite Barroso having not absorbed a single punch during the final exchange.
Because Romero was not a mandatory challenger and won a vacant title, he is now obligated to honor against the next leading contender to avoid being stripped of the belt. The ruling trumped his more desired fights with Ryan Garcia (23-1, 19KOs) and a rematch with Baltimore’s Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis (29-0, 27KOs), who knocked out Romero in the sixth round of their WBA ‘Regular’ lightweight mandatory title fight last May 28 in Brooklyn, New York.
As previously reported by Boxing Scene, Romero-Davies was destined for a purse bid after the 30-day deadline came and went without a deal reached—or any progress at all made—for their ordered title fight. The hearing will be open to all WBA-registered promoters, who are required to submit a participation fee along with a minimum accepted $110,000 bid to be eligible. Romero is due 75 percent of the winning amount, with the remaining 25 percent to go to Davies as the mandatory challenger.
Davies (25-2, 18KOs) was guaranteed the next shot at the WBA title currently in Romero’s possession. He earned the mandatory ranking with a ninth-round knockout of countryman Lewis Ritson in a March 4 title eliminator in Ritson’s hometown of Newcastle, England. The win was his seventh in a row since a twelve-round, unanimous decision defeat to countryman Jack Catterall who was unbeaten at the time of their October 2018 clash.
The lone other defeat suffered by Davies came in a seventh-round stoppage of Josh Taylor in their July 2017 battle of unbeaten prospects.
While the streaking contender refuses to step aside for his due title shot, he is not at all thrilled about the extended wait.
“@SignUp4KOs you p-ssy,” Davies exclaimed on social media. “Trying to fake an injury, the real reason is because your grandad @LEllerbe [Leonard Ellerbe, Mayweather Promotions] knows for a fact I knock you the f— out. Stop being a p-ssy & grow a set of b-llocks & fight me.”
Another ruling is now required by the WBA to validate the medical records provided on behalf of Romero, which in turn would dictate the postponement period before the matchup returns to a purse bid hearing. The minimum accepted bid—should Romero-Davies remain intact and head to a WBA-sanctioned auction—is $110,000, with Romero due 75 percent as the defending titleholder.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox