WBA 81st ANNUAL CONVENTION
09/12/2002

By Sebastián Contursi
From www.fightnews.com

Buenos Aires Herald/ESPNdeportes.com

WBA Executive Director Gilberto Jesús Mendoza confirmed that the sanctioning body will approve the fight, so all we have to do is wait until Friday to see whether King was indeed able to convince Ruiz. All bets seems to be in Don’s favor.
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DKP matchmaker Bobby Goodman asked the WBA Championship Committee to give interim champion Santiago Samaniego the chance of facing the winner of Saturday’s Oscar de la Hoya vs. Fernando Vargas fight or otherwise declare Samaniego the 154 lb. champion.
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WBA Championship Committee president Renzo Bagnariol confirmed that the number one ranked in the lightweight division, Panama’s Miguel Callist will face the next available contender for the 135 lbs. title since current champion Leonard Dorin’s broken arm will prevent him from defending his title until next January. Therefore, Callist would fight either France’s Julien Lorcy (the number 2 spot is vacant and he is ranked #3), Juan Lazcano (#4) or Argentina’s Raúl Balbi (#5) for the interim title before the end of the year.
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Promoter Michel Acaries confirmed that Lorcy is more likely to go down to the 130 lbs., while Lazcano had no representatives at the assembly. That would open the door for Balbi, who would have the chance of regaining the crown that he lost to Dorin in January. Argentine promoter Osvaldo Rivero’s representative Edgardo Rosani asked the Championship Committee to keep Balbi in consideration after rumors of the fighter’s retirement had been spread.

9/12/2002