Jono Carroll secures world title shot
Jono Carroll has finally been handed a second world title shot.
The Dubliner has been made mandatory for the WBA super featherweight world title and will challenge Lamont Roach Jr for the strap at a yet-to-be-confirmed date.
‘King Kong’ won an eliminator in 2021 when he beat Andy Vences in Florida and was expected to close in on a tilt then.
However, the fighter, who previously challenged Tevin Farmer for the IBF crown, saw his career go somewhat stop-start since. Three fights in Dubai and one in Uzbekistan have followed with no word of a world tilt. The Dubliner’s last win, which came in March of last year, was over Miguel Marriaga and kept him relevant, but he was last heard expressing frustration at the lack of world-level action.
It seems he shared that frustration with the WBA and they took action.
They heard the ever-entertaining southpaw’s pleas and installed him as mandatory for the title. The WBA has ordered both teams to come to an agreement within 30 days or purse bids will be called. The winner then has to defend against Otar Eranosyan.
When and where of Carroll’s challenge remains to be seen – but he is guaranteed a slot.
A WBA statement released Friday evening read:
The World Boxing Association (WBA) Championships Committee recognized Jono Carroll as the mandatory challenger of the super featherweight category after an extensive analysis of the division and what has happened recently.
Carroll sent a formal request to WBA and after analyzing the scenario, the decision was reached on Friday, February 9.
On September 11, 2021, Carroll won an eliminator fight against Andy Vences whereby he moved up to second in the rankings at the time, below the interim and number one champion, who at the time was Chris Colbert.
On August 15, 2021, a mandatory fight had been ordered between champion Roger Gutierrez and interim champion Colbert, but an injury to Gutierrez prevented him from being in time for the bout. In the end, Colbert faced Hector Garcia and lost to the Dominican, who earned the effect of facing Gutierrez for the world title.
Once the Gutierrez-Garcia fight was ordered, in 2022 the committee approved another eliminator in Lamont Roach and Angel Rodriguez, which took place in July 2022 with Roach winning.
Garcia became world champion in August 2022 by beating Gutierrez, made a lightweight fight against Gervonta Davis after receiving special permission and then faced Roach to lose his title to the American in November of last year.
Additionally, Otar Eranosyan faced Roger Gutierrez in a new eliminator in August 2023, and defeated the Venezuelan.
It should be noted that since Carroll won his eliminator fight in 2021 he has been active with competitive fights. WBA rule F.1 says that a person directly affected by a decision of the committee can send a reconsideration while F.2, gives power to the body to choose or replace a mandatory contender in order to comply with the rules.
For that reason, it was approved that Carroll will be Roach’s mandatory challenger and a 30-day period will be granted to negotiate the fight as established by the WBA. In addition, the winner of the bout will face Eranosyan within 120 days of his victory.
Any future decision on this case will be resolved using the WBA’s internal rules and regulations.
