O’Shaquie Foster and Stephen Fulton will be fighting for the WBC interim lightweight title on Saturday night, live on PBC PPV, rather than Foster’s super featherweight belt. This comes after Fulton (23-1, 8 KOs) missed weight by a couple of pounds, weighing in at 132 lbs for what was supposed to be a contest for Foster’s WBC 130-lb belt.
Belt Switch Explained
The WBC still chose to have a title at stake for the vital fight. So, the interim lightweight strap will be available for Foster (23-3, 12 KOs) and Fulton to fight over. It works out well, as both guys have a chance to reinvent themselves at 135. There are a lot more opportunities for paydays at lightweight than at 130 or 126.
Foster-Fulton will be fighting on the undercard of the Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz vs. Lamont Roach card at the Frost Bank Arena in San Antonio, Texas. The event will be shown live on Amazon Prime Video PPV for the asking price of $74.99.
Dan Rafael says PBC asked the WBC to sanction the Foster vs. Fulton fight for the interim lightweight title so that there would still be a belt at stake. They went along with the idea.
Fans Lose It
Some fans have been grumbling about the WBC putting the interim lightweight title on the line. They just won’t shut up on this. I don’t see what the big deal is. Look at it this way. The current WBC champion, Shakur Stevenson, has gone up to 140 to enrich himself, making millions fighting Teofimo Lopez for his WBO light welterweight title. It’s classic abandonment of his WBC 135.
If you’re going to go up and leave your lightweight belt, of course, the WBC is going to keep it in play. They’re not getting anything out of Shakur fighting Teo for his WBO belt, and neither are the fighters waiting in line at 135. WBC president Mauricion Sulaiman did the right thing by putting the interim title at stake for Saturday’s Foster vs. Fulton fight.
Stevenson is already talking about going up to 147 after that to collect another paycheck against Conor Benn. So, with Shakur leaving the contenders in the WBC’s rankings at 135 without an opportunity to fight for the belt, it’s a good deal that the interim title is available for Fulton and Foster.
The WBC would be doing the lightweight division a favor by stripping Shakur the moment he sets foot inside the ring against Teofimo. They could then elevate the winner of Saturday’s Foster-Fulton to full WBC lightweight champion.
