Tag Archives: title

boxing, Premier Boxing Champions

Unified Welterweight Champion Keith Thurman Relinquishes WBC title Due to Injury Rehabilitation

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Will Remain WBA Champion and Fight for

WBC Crown Once He Has Fully Recovered

 

 

 

CLEARWATER, FLORIDA (April 24, 2018) Unified welterweight champion Keith Thurman has voluntarily relinquished his WBC title while he recovers from the effects of elbow surgery last year and a hand injury he suffered in training camp last month.

 

 

 

After speaking with WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman recently, Thurman decided that he would relinquish the title and open the way for former champions Danny Garcia and Shawn Porter, the two leading contenders for the WBC title, to fight each other for the championship while Thurman made a full recovery from his injuries.

 

 

 

“Due to my rehabilitation from my injuries, I agreed to relinquish my WBC title at this time. I continue to rehab my hand and elbow and I look forward to getting back in the ring this summer. This is a temporary setback and I will be the unified champion once again and look forward to winning back my WBC title as soon as possible,” said Thurman.

 

 

 

“Keith Thurman unfortunately has suffered two consecutive injuries that have kept him out of the ring after his sensational victory over Danny Garcia and he has graciously relinquished his title, and the WBC has mandated that Danny Garcia and Shawn Porter will fight for the title,” said Mauricio Sulaiman. “Keith will have a direct path to fight for the title once he has healed just as Vitali Klitshcko and other WBC champions have done in the past. Keith is a tremendous athlete, champion and role model. The WBC will support him completely during this difficult time. ”

 

 

 

Garcia (34-1, 20 KOs), a former unified champion at 140 pounds and the former WBC welterweight champion, lost the WBC title to Thurman by 12-round split decision in 2017. He bounced back with a knockout victory over former champion Brandon Rios in February. The WBC had made that fight a title elimination match, which put Garcia in line to fight Thurman again for the title.

 

 

 

Porter (28-2-1, 17 KOs), a former welterweight champion, lost a close 12-round decision to Thurman in 2016. He became the mandatory challenger for the WBC title when he knocked out Andre Berto last year. He maintained his status with a 12-round decision over Adrian Granados in November.

 

 

 

The 29-year-old Thurman (28-0, 22 KOs) has been plagued by a string of injuries the last two years.

 

 

 

Thurman injured his neck in a car accident in February 2016, which delayed his match against Porter by three months. When they met Thurman defeated Porter by unanimous decision on June 25.

 

 

 

He defeated Garcia by split decision in a welterweight unification match on March 4, 2017. A month later he had major surgery on his right elbow to remove bone spurs and calcium deposits. He is still in rehabilitation from that surgery.

 

 

 

Thurman injured his hand hitting the heavy bag last month and aggravated the injury sparring with some amateurs at his gym in St. Petersburg, Florida. An MRI revealed bruises to the metacarpal bones in the hand, which also has extensive swelling. Thurman can’t have any impact with the hand for at least 8 weeks, which added another delay to his ring return.

 

 

 

He now hopes to return to the ring in the late summer or early fall.

mixed martial arts, World Series of Fighting

WORLD SERIES OF FIGHTING STRIPS ROUSIMAR PALHARES OF WORLD TITLE, PLACES HIM ON INDEFINITE SUSPENSION

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LAS VEGAS (August 4, 2015) – World Series of Fighting (WSOF.com) has strippedRousimar “Toquinho” Palhares of the franchise’s world welterweight title and placed him on immediate, indefinite suspension until all issues are resolved, following Palhares’ “WSOF 22” main event title defense against Jake Shields on Saturday, August 1.

“After taking the time to review the footage from Saturday’s bout between Rousimar Palhares and Jake Shields in its entirety, we decided that stripping Rousimar of his title and issuing him a suspension until this issue is resolved, was necessary,” said World Series of Fighting President, six-time world champion and two-time Hall of Famer Ray Sefo.

“As a fighter with over two decades of ring experience,” continued Sefo, “I am always going to be an advocate for other fighters and, in this case, I feel that World Series of Fighting must protect its athletes and rules of competition by imposing swift and firm disciplinary action to address what we saw as unfair play in the cage.”

The much-anticipated showdown between Palhares and Shields aired live on NBCSN as part of a five-bout telecast from Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.

In the middle of the second round, Palhares, after being mounted by Shields on the ground, suddenly placed his hands over Shields’ eyes and appeared to disrupt Shields’ vision.

In the third round, Palhares executed a kimura submission that prompted Shields to tap out nine times before Palhares freed Shields from the hold, as directed by referee Steve Mazzagatti.

“Because of specific instances in the past in which Rousimar had arguably held his submission holds longer than necessary in competition,” explained Sefo, “Steve Mazzagatti gave Rousimar clear verbal instructions in the dressing room, before the fight, about listening to and obeying the referee’s commands, including those about letting go of a submission hold when instructed to do so.”

As a result of what transpired in the cage between Palhares and Shields, the Nevada State Athletic Commission elected to withhold Palhares’ entire, contractual win bonus, pending a review of the bout.

About “World Series of Fighting” (WSOF)
“World Series of Fighting” (WSOF) is a world wide premier professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fight promotion dedicated to delivering the best action-packed fights for fight fans by producing the best possible match-ups between elite fighters from around the world. For more information please visit WSOF.com. Follow “World Series of Fighting” on Twitter @MMAWorldSeries and “World Series of Fighting” President Ray Sefo @SugarRaySefo.