Undefeated boxer Andre Ward has been stripped of his WBC Super Middle Weight Title because of inactivity.
Ward hasn’t fought since his September 2012 dominance of Chad Dawson. Ward had shoulder surgery after that bout and he has been shelved ever since. He was forced to cancel his January fight against Kelly Pavlik and has yet to schedule a fight for the early summer.
The earliest Ward will fight seems to be September, which would leave him idle for an entire calendar year. That year long lay off seems to much for the WBC, but in a display of generosity they’ve allowed him to become “champion emeritus.”
That made up designation allows Ward to challenge the new WBC champion whenever he’d like after his return to the ring and it grants him an automatic 60-40 split of the purse.
These types of rulings are what keeps boxing from generating casual fans and the younger demographic. They have pretty much set up an event where one of the most talented up-and- coming undefeated fighters will be the challenger to a no body fighter, for a belt that he’s held and never lost in the ring.
Sounds complicated? It’s because it is. Boxing adds another unnecessary hurdle to the career of a potential star, congratulations WBC.