THE WORLD BOXING Association (WBA) has stripped Carl Frampton of his status as super bantamweight champion.
In a statement issued last night, the WBA said that Frampton’s intention to face an opponent other than mandatory challenger, Guillermo Rigondeaux, and his “failure to respond to WBA inquires as to his intent” meant the Belfast boxer’s status as champion was “removed.”
Frampton won the title in February when he defeated then-champion Scott Quigg in a split decision to become the unified WBA and IBF belt-holder.
WBA Rule C.13 states that “a champion must remain active and regularly defend his title” with a first defence taking place within nine months.
However, with Frampton’s camp providing no response to the organisation’s enquiries regarding a date for the bout, they were left with no option but to strip the 29-year-old of his belt.
Rigondeaux will now face interim WBA champion Moises Flores for the WBA title while Frampton is likely to fight IBF featherweight champion Lee Selby or WBA featherweight champion Leo Santa Cruz after the pair had a high profile spat on social media last month.
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