By Miguel Rivera
The World Boxing Association has received a request, from Golden Boy Promotions' head matchmaker Robert Diaz, to order a showdown for the WBA "regular" welterweight title.
The reason being, current WBA champion Keith Thurman has been out of the ring since March with injury and won't return until the first quarter of the year - and plans to take an easier fight.
Diaz made the request on behalf of his fighter, Lucas Matthysse (38-4, 35 KO's), who is ranked third by the sanctioning body.
The request was made to fight number one ranked Tewa Kiram (38-0, 28KOs) of Thailand. Kiram's promoter, Galaxy, is also on board with the request and want to make the fight with Matthysse for the "regular" belt.
The previous WBA "regular" titleholder was Lamont Peterson, who recently vacated the title to focus on a world title shot in January against IBF king Errol Spence.
Kiram has never fought outside of Thailand and a fight with Matthysse would be a serious step up in competition for him. Like most Thai fighters he is very active, with two fights in 2017, four in 2016 and four in 2015. But there are very few recognizable names on his entire record.
The winner would become the mandatory challenger to Thurman.
Ranked at number 2 by the WBA is Danny Garcia, who is also inactive since losing a decision to Thurman in March of this year. Garcia is still slated to return in the coming months, likely against former world champion Brandon Rios.
Matthysse has not fought since he made his welterweight debut and knocked out Emmanuel Taylor as part of the Canlelo Alvarez vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. undercard back in May at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It was his first fight since getting knocked out by Viktor Postol back in October in 2015 at StunHub Center in California.
2023-10-19 21:22:27
