The World Boxing Council (WBC) will put its ‘Freedom’ belt on the line for the Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis vs. Frank Martin fight on June 15th, commemorating Juneteenth.
WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman has confirmed that there won’t be a sanctioning fee involved to the winner of the fight that the ‘Freedom’ belt is given to. That’s good because Tank said he won’t pay a sanctioning fee for it if one is required.
Social Media Skepticism
Fans on social media have been having a field day, criticizing the WBC for volunteering their Freedom belt, as they view it as a participation trophy.
The critics feel that the WBC Freedom is a needless trinket that distracts from the WBA title that is on the line for the fight.
They see it as a move where the WBC has picked a big fight that they know will benefit them publicly due to the attention the Tank vs. Martin fight will receive. It’s also a little strange because neither fighter is a WBC champion in the fight.
It would make more sense if Tank or Martin held the WBC lightweight title. Then if the WBC wants to have the ‘Freedom’ as an add-on, that would be a logical move. But for the WBC to include their Freedom belt for a fight involving another sanctioning body’s title [WBA], it seems distracting.
WBA ‘regular’ lightweight champion Tank (29-0, 27 KOs) will defend his title against Martin (18-0, 12 KOs) on Prime Video PPV at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. In the co-feature, David Benavidez will fight Oleksandr Gvozdyk for the WBC interim light heavyweight title.
This is Benavidez’s first fight at 175. He’s moving up with the hopes of fighting for the undisputed championship. In other words, he’s moving up chasing paydays. If Benavidez loses to Gvozdyk, he’ll likely return to 168, having failed at his mission.