Alberto Puello, Sandor Martin Reach Agreement For WBC Mandatory Title Fight
Alberto Puello is set to defend his second title for the first time.
The reigning WBC junior welterweight champion has reached a mandatory defense against Spain’s Sandor Martin. This was confirmed by the president of the WBC Mauricio Sulaiman, who warned the crowd that the hearing of the request for money is no longer necessary.
“The war is on [wBC 140-pound] champion, Dominican Alberto Puello and Spaniard Sandor Martin [is] it has been set,” said Sulaiman on Friday. “[The] the teams have agreed to the terms of the mandatory defense of the world championship.”
No date or place has come with the announcement. It is believed to remain under the upcoming Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) programme. However, PBC creator Al Haymon was busy touring his summer lines, thus unavailable for comment as this went to press.
Development is important considering the parties involved. Puello is promoted by Shuan Boxing from his native Dominican Republic, but is mainly a PBC fighter. Martin from Spain is covered by Top Rank.
Puello (23-0, 10 knockouts), No. 5 at 140, won the WBC interim title in a 15-point victory in June over Gary Antoine Russell in Las Vegas. The only surprise from this decision is that the undefeated Dominican was forced to sweat the split decision.
However, Russell (17-1, 17 KOs), No. 10 at 140, named as mandatory for the Puello-Martin winner. The decision was made in lieu of an appeal for an immediate retrial.
Martin was originally due to challenge for a two-division title against then-reigning WBC 140-pounder Devin Haney. Their fight was ordered on May 11 and they went to a hearing on June 18. The top position won with a bid of $2,420,000. According to WBC rules, ten percent of the winning bid is placed in escrow as a winning bonus. Of the remaining money, Haney was to make $1,524,600 for his 70 percent cut.
Payday wasn’t worth it for him to go ahead and fight. Haney agreed to relinquish the title and was named the ‘Champion in Recess.’ Puello was then promoted to full title holder. He entered the second reign because of that. Puello previously held the WBA belt but was stripped of it after testing positive for a banned substance last spring. His scheduled title defense against Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero in Las Vegas has finally been cancelled.
Meanwhile, Martin (42-3, 15 KOs) is yet to receive a title challenge against an undefeated fighter.
The 30-year-old southpaw from Barcelona, Spain has fought just twice since the Dec. 2022 loss to Teofimo Lopez (20-1, 13 KOs) in New York City. Lopez went on to win The Ring 140-pound championship and the WBO title, while Martin collected wins in Italy.
Both fights were scheduled for only eight rounds in comparison to the competition. His inability to perform at a high level caused him to drop out of The Ring’s Top 10 rankings; he was number 9 when the Haney battle was first fought in May.
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