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WBC orders Danny Garcia-Viktor Postol

Fighters Network
19
Aug

The WBC has scheduled purse bids for Sept. 12 in Las Vegas in case deals are not reached between its No. 1-rated 140-pound contender Viktor Postol and RING junior welterweight champion Danny Garcia, and its top-rated heavyweight Deontay Wilder and titleholder Bermane Stiverne.

WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman informed RingTV.com that the bids will happen a day before RING champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. defends his WBA and WBC 147-pound belts against Marcos Maidana at the MGM Grand, having previously defeated Maidana by majority decision in May.

In advance of his 11th-round knockout of Turkey’s Selcuk Aydin in May, Postol (26-0, 11 knockouts), a 30-year-old Ukrainian contender, benefited from sparring sessions with managerial stablemate and former WBO 140-pound titleholder Ruslan Provodnikov.

Sulaiman said Postol’s victory over Aydin represented the WBC’s eliminator bout for the right to face Garcia (29-0, 17 KOs), who is coming off a second-round stoppage of Rod Salka in a non-title bout on Aug. 9. Garcia also holds the WBA’s belt.



Garcia has been promoted by Golden Boy, and Postol is being co-promoted by Elite Boxing out of the Ukraine, as well as Top Rank, according to his manager, Vadim Kornilov. Wilder is promoted by Golden Boy, and Stiverne, by Don King.

“Viktor Postal won the final elimination bout by knockout out Selcuk Aydin,” said Sulaiman, adding that free negotiations for the Garcia-Postal bout were ordered on Friday. “So if there is no agreement, then there will be a purse bid on Sept. 12 in Las Vegas. That is the same thing that goes for Stiverne and Wilder.”

In his most recent fight last Saturday, Wilder (32-0, 32 KOs) scored knockdowns in the third and final rounds of a fourth-round technical knockout over journeyman Jason Gavern. A 2008 Olympic bronze medalist, Wilder was coming off a 96-second stoppage of Malik Scott in a WBC title eliminator bout in March.

Defeating Scott made Wilder the mandatory challenger to face Stiverne (24-1-1, 21 KOs), a clash that is being targeted for “November or December of this year,” according to Sulaiman.

Kornilov said Postol is ready for Garcia, but that if Garcia should decide to move up in weight, the boxer would be prepared to face hard-hitting RING No. 1-rated 140-pounder Lucas Matthysse of Argentina.

“This is a mandatory title defense, but I’m sure that both Danny Garcia and his father [and trainer Angel Garcia] are looking for the easier fights like the one that he just had with Rod Salka,” said Kornilov.

“I think that if they don’t want to bring the competitive fights to the division then they should give up the title and go do something else. Postol is ready to fight anybody and he’s ready to put himself in dangerous fights. If Garcia is going up in weight, then we’ll fight Lucas Matthysse. He’s the next one in line.”

Kornilov is also the manager of Provodnikov, who was dethroned as WBO 140-pound beltholder in June following a split-decision loss to Chris Algieri.

Kornilov said negotiations are ongoing for a potential welterweight bout between Provodnikov and former lightweight beltholder Brandon Rios in November.

“There’s negotiations and talk about a November date for Ruslan on HBO. We don’t want him out of the ring for too long,” said Kornilov. “I know that HBO and the fans want to see us in against Brandon Rios, so we’re trying to push for that fight. I think that’s the perfect fight.”

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