By Ben Carey
Rendall Munroe has been ordered to face Mexican Victor Terrazas in a final eliminator for the WBC super-bantamweight title.
Leicester southpaw Munroe expects the battle for the right to challenge for Toshiaki Nishioka’s WBC world crown to take place in February or March.
The WBC has mandated the fight and the fighters promoters HG Boxing and Frank Maloney, who handles Munroe, have until January 14 to conclude private negotiations. If no agreement is reached, the fight will go to immediate purse bids.
Maloney said: “Obviously we would like to avoid purse bids and bring Terrazas to England, but appreciate how hard that might be. Whatever happens, at least Rendall knows he is just one win away from the fight he wants so much.”
Terrazas (25-1-1) was knocked out on his pro debut in March 2003, but has remained unbeaten since then (his solitary draw came against debutant Saul Osuna five years ago). The 26-year-old has won 13 fights inside the distance and holds the Mexican super-bantamweight and WBC FECARBOX featherweight titles. Terrazas has yet to fight outside Mexico however and, on paper at least, appears to have been matched cautiously in his 27-fight career.
Munroe (20-1) currently holds the Commonwealth and European super-bantamweight crowns but may relinquish them in the near future to concentrate on his world title final eliminator.
Maloney explained: “Giving up his titles is a possibility because there will be obligations expected. The Commonwealth council have been patient and Rendall has been a fantastic EBU champion and faced every mandatory contender.”
“Because the Terrazas fight appears imminent he will not be able to defend either title in the first few months of 2010 and it would be unfair to hold up other boxers like Jason Booth (who has been nominated to challenge Munroe for his European title – Ed).”
Maloney has revealed that he has already received a “derisory offer” for Munroe to face Terrazas in Mexico.
He added: “Because of the holiday period I haven’t spoke to anybody directly from Terrazas’s promotional team, but I will next week and make a tempting offer We had one offer top go over there which shows they want to put the fight on, but I am just as desperate to get home advantage.”
“It could well go to purses bids in mid-January and I would be hopeful of winning, but we cannot leave anything to chance if the Mexicans win it. They could suddenly put a date on us, but if they did we would already have a training camp in the US or Mexico sorted and be ready to go,” speculated Maloney.
