World Boxing Council respond to Serrano's statement
Puerto Rican star Amanda Serrano was particularly damning towards the governing body after she vacated her WBC World featherweight title after a disagreement over equal rights in the sport.
The seven-weight world champion released a statement earlier this week showing her displeasure at the WBC for refusing to sanction 12 three-minute rounds championship fights for females.
The 35-year-old stated, "Moving forward, if a sanctioning body doesn't want to give me and my fellow fighters the choice to fight the same as the men, then I will not be fighting for that sanctioning body. The WBC has refused to evolve the sport for equality, so I am relinquishing their title. Thank you for the governing bodies who have evolved for equality! If you want to face me in the ring, you have a choice. I've made mine."
The World Boxing Council responded with their own statement the following day – see below:
The WBC believes in CHOICE
The WBC believes in choice, which is why we chose to support women’s boxing when no one else did since the late nineties.
The WBC chose to initiate Women’s World Championship’s back in 2004. We chose to use our entire platform to bring women’s boxing to the level it is today with exciting fights, sold-out arenas, and worldwide heroes.
The WBC chose to spend money, time, and effort to have continuous medical and scientific research, evaluate and create specific rules for women in boxing.
The WBC chose to support women and not charge a single penny to them in sanction fees. The WBC chose to organize three World Conventions exclusively for women’s boxing in Cancun, Tijuana, and Manila.
However, the sport itself is not about choice. Boxing by its nature demands safety guidelines, rules, and protection. Rules are not discriminatory, arbitrary, or sexist. Rules are based on science, expertise, fairness, and above all, for safety. Our mission has always and will always be to lower the risk of anyone going into the ring, man or woman, in this combat sport, which is not a game.
The WBC has chosen to honor these rules, principles, and values and will continue to research Women’s Boxing, support women’s boxing, and protect any woman participating in this incredible sport.
We believe in any woman to have a choice, whether to compete under the WBC rules or compete under untested waters with much uncertainty and higher risks for their own lives, their opponents lives, and the quality of their lives after ring acitivity.
LONG LIVE WOMEN’S BOXING.
The governing body was also quick to order Australia’s Skye Nicolson vs Denmark’s Sarah Mahfoud for the vacated WBC featherweight world title.
A deadline of January 12 was set for the two sides to reach terms for a fight that will determine the next WBC featherweight champion.
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