By Alan Baldwin
LONDON (Reuters) – Light-heavyweight world champion Artur Beterbiev is set to fight as a Canadian after boxing bodies barred Russians following the invasion of Ukraine, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman said on Wednesday.
The WBC, IBF and IBO have said they will not certify fights involving boxers from Russia or Belarus.
“We will not sanction any fights in Russia and no Russian citizens will fight for our organisation titles,” Sulaiman told Reuters ahead of WBC heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury’s title defence in London on Saturday.
Montreal-based IBF and WBC champion Beterbiev is expected to fight a unification bout with WBO champion Joe Smith Jr. in New York in June.
“He has been in Canada for 15 years, he lives in Canada, his children were born in Canada, he has a Canadian passport and Canadian residency and a boxing licence from Canada,” said Sulaiman.
“So the WBC board is evaluating that specific case as we speak.
“We believe in what the world is doing but we also have to look at specific cases and make justice prevail.”
Sulaiman, a Mexican, said Bridgerweight mandatory contender Evgenyi Romanov had been ruled out of a title tilt but would keep his status.
“We have several (Russian) silver champions in the WBC and they cannot defend their title. They are going to be put in recess,” he added.
The WBA has barred Russian fighters from entering the ring with their flag or having the national anthem played. Their country will also not be identified publicly.
Unbeaten Russian Dmitry Bivol is due to defend his WBA light-heavyweight title against Mexican Canelo Alvarez in Las Vegas on May 7.
Sulaiman was attending the presentation of the WBC Greatest Fights Opus book and the start of an auction of a Ukraine Peace special edition with the proceeds going to help relief in Ukraine.
The huge book, studded with thousands of green and gold crystals, is being auctioned by Bonhams online until June 5 with an opening bid of $100,000 coming from Guernsey and promoter Frank Warren raising it by $30,000.
Sulaiman hoped the bidding would eventually reach $1 million, or more.
The event in a hotel near London’s Wembley Stadium featured a live video link with former heavyweight world champion and current mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko, and was also attended by the Ukrainian ambassador to Britain.
“Please support Ukraine, support peace, resist war… please stop economic relationship with Russia. Every euro, every dollar you send to Russia is with Ukrainian blood,” Klitschko told the audience.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Toby Davis)
