The WBC has stripped Ryan Garcia of his interim lightweight title while he is taking leave from the sport due to mental health issues. The WBC gave the recovering Garcia the boot so that it could sanction Javier Fortuna (36-2-1, 25 KOs) against Joseph “Jo Jo” Diaz for a new interim champion (and collect the resulting sanctioning fee). In doing so, the WBC is penalizing a Garcia, young man for breaking with tradition to advocate for his own well being in a sport that traditonally discounts mental health. The move is also wrong-headed for two other reasons: first, Diaz is coming off a draw, and if anyone is to fight Fortuna for the interim title, it should be Richard Commey, the next leading available contender. Second, the regular champion Devin Haney fights this week, and the franchise champion, Teofimo Lopez fights in June, so there is no need for an interim title at all. Here is how the WBC explained striping Garcia:
"Recently, WBC interim lightweight champion Ryan Garcia notified the WBC that he was taking a leave from boxing to address ongoing health issues. The WBC fully and unconditionally supports Garcia. The WBC will stay close to him during his process, and the WBC Board of Governors will assess his situation once he is ready to return to the ring. [BUT] The WBC has received a request to sanction the bout between the #2-rated lightweight Javier “El Abejon” Fortuna (36-2-1, 25 KOs) against the #5-rated super featherweight contender Joseph “Jo Jo” Diaz (31-1-1, 15 KOs) for the WBC interim lightweight championship. The Fortuna v. Diaz bout is scheduled to take place on July 9th in Los Angeles, California.
"A recount of the backdrop that led to Javier Fortuna’s request puts that request into the proper context. In December of 2019, Fortuna reached the #1 position in the WBC lightweight ratings. The then WBC lightweight champion Devin Haney became unable to defend his title due to a shoulder injury, which prompted the WBC to name him WBC champion-in-recess, thus rendering vacant the WBC lightweight championship. [Editor's note: Boxingtalk considers Haney a secondary champion because undisputed world chamion Teofimo Lopez defeated Vasiliy Lomachenko but was converted by the WBC to "franchise champion]. The WBC then ordered a bout between Fortuna and then-#2 Luke Campbell for the vacant WBC lightweight championship. That bout was contracted and scheduled to take place in April of 2020.
"Due the COVID-19 pandemic, the Fortuna v. Campbell bout did not take place, which gave champion-in-recess Devin Haney sufficient time to recover from his injury. Haney petitioned to the WBC to be reinstated as champion in light of his recovery. The WBC granted that petition as well as a voluntary defense of his title. The WBC also agreed to sanction the Fortuna vs. Campbell bout for the WBC interim championship, due to the fact they had entered into a contract to fight for the WBC championship. Subsequently, Campbell’s promoter, Matchroom, requested that the WBC sanction Haney’s voluntary defense to be against #2 Luke Campbell. That bout never took place. Fortuna was then scheduled to face former multi-time world champion and #3-rated Jorge Linares. That bout was supposed to take place in August of 2020. Linares who contracted Covid-19 a few weeks before his bout against Fortuna, which resulted in that bout being cancelled.
"In November of 2020, Fortuna stopped Antonio Lozada in six rounds. Fortuna was then scheduled to fight the then WBC interim champion Ryan Garcia. That bout would have taken place in July of 2021, but was cancelled due to Garcia’s ongoing medical issues. In light of the fact that Javier Fortuna has not been able to compete for a WBC Championship due to reasons outside his control, and based on the merits of his request, the WBC has decided to grant it. Accordingly, the WBC will sanction the Javier Fortuna v. Jo Jo Diaz bout for the WBC interim lightweight championship. The winner will fight the winner of Haney vs Linares."
