[In a fight between two paper champions who have no interest in making a risky defense], the WBA, through its Championships Committee, has granted a period of 15 days to the teams of the WBA 126-pound super champion Leo Santa Cruz and regular champion Leigh Wood, in which they must reach an agreement to fight or else face a purse bid on December 12th in Orlando, Florida during the WBA's Centennial Convention. Santa Cruz has not defended the title or even fought at featherweight for more than three and a half years. Both men have been doing everything in their power to resist the fight.

 

Last April 6th, the WBA sent an official letter ordering the fight between Santa Cruz and Wood. On July 11th, TGB Promotions requested special permission for Santa Cruz to face Rey Vargas in unification, which was denied by the WBA. Then, on August 12th, TGB and Matchroom informed the WBA that they had reached an agreement and the purse bid was suspended. But on the 22nd of that same month, they reported that they had an agreement for Santa Cruz to fight Vargas and Wood to fight Mauricio Lara, with the winners of both fights facing each other 120 days later.  The WBA gave the go-ahead to that agreement but on September 13th, the WBA learned from the media that Wood suffered an injury and could not make the fight against Lara. The WBA requested the medical report to Wood’s team.  This report arrived on October 20th, signed by Dr. Usman Rana, who said that the Briton should refrain from strenuous work with his left arm for a period of 4 to 6 weeks to ensure a full recovery and avoid a relapse of the injury. Santa Cruz's fight never materialized.

 

That six-week period will expire next December 1st, so the WBA championships committee carried out its analysis and considered that it is now time to restart the Santa Cruz-Wood negotiations. The 15-day period will be extended until December 7th and if there is no agreement by that time, the purse bid will be held at the Caribe Royale Hotel in Orlando, in the middle of the convention of the pioneer body.