WBO Resolution – WBO Female Flyweight Division – Nicola Adams

The present ruling arises upon a petition filed on Monday, June 3rd 2019, by Mr. Frank Warren of Queensberry Promotions on behalf of WBO Participant Female Interim Flyweight Champion Ms. Nicola Adams, requesting that the latter be recognized as the WBO Female Flyweight Champion in light of the injury suffered by current WBO Female Flyweight Champion Ms. Arely Muciño on Saturday, May 20th 2019, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and therefore unfit to return to active competition within the time period set forth in our rules and regulations; thus unable to comply with the mandatory defense obligation as ordered by this Committee on Monday, October 15th 2018, and in accordance with the WBO Female Regulations and Section 19 of the WBO Regulations of World Championship Contest.

The WBO World Championship Committee having reviewed the aforementioned request, having considered Ms. Muciño’s inability to compete and fulfill her mandatory obligations as required by the WBO Female Rules and Regulations and the WBO Regulations of World Championship Contests, having examine Ms. Muciño’s official medical certification by the Administration of Medical Services Hospital Medical Center in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and having considered the ordered issued by this Committee seeking to determine only one WBO Female Flyweight Champion, and pursuant with the WBO Female Regulations and the WBO Regulations of World Championship Contests, their applicability, and enforcement, and having been fully advised in the premises, it is hereby determined as follows:

WHEREAS, on Saturday, April 8th 2017, Ms. Nicola Adams officially debuted professionally against Ms. Virgina Noemi Carcamo (4-10-3) winning via unanimous decision (UD); bout held at the Manchester Arena, Manchester, Lancashire, United Kingdom; and,

WHEREAS, on Saturday, February 17th 2018, WBO Female Flyweight Champion Ms. Arely Muciño won the WBO Female Flyweight Championship Title against Ms. Monserrat Alarcon via majority decision (MD); bout held at the Domo del Parque San Rafael, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico; and,

WHEREAS, Ms. Muciño suffered an injury during the course of the bout and as a result thereto, she was unable to participate in further active competition. The correspondent medical certification was filed by her promotional company “Zanfer Promotions”; and,

WHEREAS, upon Ms. Muciño’s inability to participate in active competition, Mr. Frank Warren of “Queensberry Promotions” on behalf of Ms. Nicola Adams, formally requested via email on Tuesday, July 24th 2018, sanction approval of an Interim WBO Female Flyweight Championship Contest between Ms. Nicola Adams and Ms. Isabel Millan (25-5-1); and

WHEREAS, this Committee voted accordingly granting sanction approval for an Interim WBO Female Flyweight Championship Contest between Ms. Adams and Ms. Millan to be held on Saturday, October 6th 2018, at the Leicester Arena, Leicester, United Kingdom; and,

WHEREAS, On Saturday, September 22nd 2018, Ms. Muciño returned to active competition and successfully defended her WBO Female Flyweight Championship Title against Ms. Maria Salinas (19-6-3); bout held at the Arena Jose Sulaiman, Monterrey, Mexico, via unanimous decision (UD); and,

WHEREAS, on Saturday, October 6th 2018, Ms. Nicola Adams won the WBO Interim Female Flyweight Championship against Ms. Isabel Millan (25-5-1) via unanimous decision (UD); bout held at the Leicester Arena, Leicester, United Kingdom; and,

WHEREAS, on Monday, October 15th 2018, this Committee issued an official negotiation letter to “Zanfer Promotions” and “Queensberry Promotions”, respectively, ordering the commencement of negotiations to determine only one WBO Female Flyweight Champion. In accordance with our order, an agreement was reached to host Muciño vs. Adams on March 8th 2019, at London’s Royal Albert Hall, London, England; and,

WHEREAS, on February 18th 2019, official boxing reports confirmed that Ms. Nicola Adams had suffered an injury during her training preparations causing the postponement of the
scheduled March 8th 2019 WBO Female Flyweight bout; and,

WHEREAS, in light of Ms. Adams’ unavailability due to the suffered injury, Ms. Muciño successfully defended her WBO Female Flyweight Championship Title against Ms. Yairineth Altuve on April 13th 2019 (10-2-0) winning via unanimous decision (UD); bout held at the Arena Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico; and,

WHEREAS, on May 20th 2019, the WBO confirmed receipt of email communication of Mr. Alejandro Brito on behalf of “Zanfer Promotions” indicating that Ms. Muciño had suffered a head injury in her last bout causing again the postponement of the Muciño vs. Adams bout scheduled bout; and,

WHEREAS, on May 28th 2019, this Committee issued official communication clarifying the current status of the WBO Female Flyweight Division and setting forth specific provisions in order to determine only one WBO Female Flyweight Champion; and,

WHEREAS, on July 4th 2019 this Committee confirmed receipt of email communication by Mr. Alejandro Brito of “Zanfer Promotions” on behalf of WBO Female Flyweight Champion Ms. Muciño, indicating that the latter had suffered an automobile accident on July 31st 2019, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and had seriously injured her right ankle. Furthermore, Mr. Brito requested that Ms. Muciño be recognized as WBO Female Flyweight Champion “In Recess”; and,

WHEREAS, on July 9th 2019, this Committee issued official letter ordering Mr. Brito submittal of an official medical certification regarding Ms. Muciño’s injury, prognosis and possible return date for active competition; and,

WHEREAS, on July 10th 2019, the WBO confirmed receipt of medical certification issued by the Administration of Medical Services of Puerto Rico Medical Center. Said certification confirmed Ms. Muciño’s ankle injury and therefore, unable to walk; Furthermore, indicated that her recovery period and return to physical activity will extend until the month of November 2019; and,

WHEREAS, on July 15th 2019, this Committee issued an official “Show Cause” letter to Ms. Muciño through her promotional representatives “Zanfer Promotions” indicating that in light
of her injury and unavailability to comply with her mandatory obligation as ordered by this Committee against Ms. Nicola Adams on September 21st 2019, the WBO World Championship Committee should declare the WBO Female Flyweight Championship Title “Vacant”. Conversely, this Committee flatly rejected the WBO Female Champion “In Recess” request made by Mr. Brito on behalf of “Zanfer Promotions”; and,

WHEREAS, the World Boxing Organization does not recognize “Champion in Recess” status in none of the WBO weight divisions, however, this Committee recommended “Zanfer Promotions” upon Ms. Muciño’s official return to active competition, filing an official Mandatory Challenger designation request in the upcoming WBO Convention to be held in Tokyo, Japan, from December 2nd through December 6th 2019; and,

WHEREAS, in our “Show Cause” letter issued to Ms. Muciño’s promotional representatives, we cited the applicable WBO Rules and Regulations in light of Ms. Muciño injury, unavailability to participate in active competition and therefore, unable to comply with our order and rules and regulations; Specifically, sections (a) and (b) respectively, of the WBO Female Regulations of World Championship Contests state as follows:

(a) “Every female Champion recognized by the World Boxing Organization, must make a mandatory defense of her Title every six (6) months, against the highest available and willing contender. The Championship Committee may order within each six (6) months to defend the title against an opponent to be accepted by the committee. If the Champion wishes to defend her title between mandatory defenses, she may do so against any rated boxer with the approval of the Championship Committee.”

(b) “When a female World Champion recognized by the World Boxing Organization, fails to comply with her obligation to defend her Title on the date indicated by the Championship Committee, the Title in her division will be declared Vacant.”

WHEREAS, Section 19 (b) (c) (f), respectively, of the WBO Regulations of World Championship Contests states as follows:

(b) However, if the Champion is unable to defend his Championship within the time periods provided in these Rules because he is physically disabled for a justified cause, and said disability has been verified and accepted by the World Championship Committee, the Champion may be granted a reasonable time to recover from the disability extension and retrain to competitive condition, which shall not in total exceed 180 days.”

(c) “A disability extension shall be approved by only the vote of the World Championship Committee. If the Champion’s recover time exceeds the maximum term of the disability extension, or if upon receipt of an interim medical certification the World Championship Committee determines that the Champion is not reasonably likely to recover and be prepared to defend his Championship within the term of the disability extension, the title shall be declared “Vacant” …..

(f) “In any of the above-mentioned circumstances, a former Champion must meet the WBO and ABC Rating Criteria to be classified.”

Furthermore, the Association Boxing Commission (ABC) sets forth the following recommendation in section 2:

2. “There should be no “interim” champions. If a champion is injured and thus cannot meet the boxer’s obligation to defend, the next two highest rated boxers shall compete for the title. Once the injured champion is ready, that boxer shall be the mandatory challenger for the new champion”.

WHEREAS, our “Show Cause” letter issued to “Zanfer Promotions” promotional representative of Ms. Muciño granted ten (10) days to present their respective arguments as to why this Committee should not strip Ms. Muciño of her the WBO Female Flyweight Championship and elevate Ms. Adams from Interim Female Flyweight Champion accordingly; and,

WHEREAS, the established period set forth in our “Show Cause” letter elapsed without any appearance and/or arguments submitted by the affected WBO Participant Ms. Muciño on behalf of her promotional representatives, this Committee proceeded accordingly; and,

WHEREAS, it should be noted that Ms. Muciño’s last successful title defense was held on April 13th 2019, against Ms. Yairineth Altuve, and considering Ms. Muciño’s possible return date for the month of November 2019, the mandatory defense obligation time period set forth in our WBO Female Rules and Regulations exceeds thereto.

WHEREAS, counting from the date of Ms. Muciño’s last title defense on April 13th 2019, until her preliminary return date for active training on November 2019, two-hundred-three (203) days will have elapsed in contravention with our WBO Female Rules and Regulations and therefore, failure of the WBO Champion to comply with her Mandatory Challenger obligations; and,

WHEREAS, in light of Ms. Muciño unavailability to comply with this Committee’s order regarding the WBO Female Flyweight Championship Contests between the latter and Ms. Adams, scheduled for September 21st 2019, Mr. Andy Ayling of “Queensberry Promotions” on behalf of WBO Female Interim Flyweight Champion Ms. Nicola Adams, officially requested be elevated to WBO Female Flyweight Champion accordingly; and,

WHEREAS, this Committee having evaluated Ms. Muciño’s medical certification confirming an ankle injury, having considered she is unfit and therefore, unable to comply with her mandatory defense obligation as ordered by this Committee, and in light of the extensive recovery period for active training preliminary scheduled for month of November 2019, and pursuant with our WBO Female and WBO Rules and Regulations of World Championship Contests, and with the authority to resolve any and all matters with the following being within our powers and discretion, and interpreted to include any or all powers necessary, helpful or convenient to accomplish the purpose, policies and the intent of these rules; and,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the WBO Championship Committee pursuant to the WBO Regulations of World Championship Contests as follows:

The WBO World Championship Committee hereby elevates Ms. Nicola Adams from WBO Female Interim Flyweight Champion to WBO Female Flyweight Champion status without undermining Ms. Mucino’s right to request official mandatory challenger designation in the aforementioned division upon her return to active competition.

This is a final decision of the WBO Championship Committee. The affected WBO participant may appeal such determination to the Complaint and Grievance Committee as per Rule 34, which as per Rule 3(e) of the WBO Appeals Regulation, must be submitted in writing to the WBO President within fourteen (14) days of this decision as its sole and exclusive remedy. Hiring a professional photographer to capture the proposal has become popular in recent years, but is it right for you? Here https://proposal007.com/proposal-photography/ the pros and cons.

Dated in San Juan, Puerto Rico on this 29th day of July 2019.

WBO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP COMMITTEE

By: Luis Batista Salas, Esq.
Chairman
Championship Committee

Cc: Andy Ayling/Queensberry Promotions
Alejandro Brito/Zanfer Promotions

190729 CC Resolution – Nicola Adams PDF Version