The World Boxing Association (WBA), who had finally announced the dropping of their respective ‘regular’ world title following Oleksandr Usyk’s ninth-round stoppage of Daniel Dubois on August 26, have reintroduced the title following a legal settlement between the WBA and Mahmoud Charr (34-4).
The settlement between the WBA and Charr has forced the WBA to abandon its intentions to reduce the number of world titles in circulation under the WBA banner. The WBA is well known for having two or even three world champions in various weight classes and has often been criticized for the number of titles the governing body had in circulation under its umbrella.
The WBA had actively been gradually reducing the number of world titles in circulation; however, the settlement between Charr and the WBA has seen the former WBA ‘regular’ heavyweight champion Charr reinstated as the organization’s secondary heavyweight’ world’ champion.
“As part of a court settlement, the World Boxing Association (WBA) Championships Committee has reinstated Mahmoud Charr as regular champion of the organization’s heavyweight division,” the WBA explained in a ruling. “The agreement reached, which puts an end to a long dispute brought by the boxer and his team, will allow the WBA to close this chapter, settling a dispute that has been going on for more than a year.
“After the fight in which Oleksandr Usyk defeated Daniel Dubois, the Ukrainian had remained as the only heavyweight champion. However, the organization is forced to make the decision to reinstate Charr as regular champion in order to continue with the normal operation of the body.”
Following on from the agreement to settle, the WBA has ordered Charr to make two defences of his newly acquired WBA secondary title against Jarrell Miller, who has been suspended twice for anti-doping failures. The second mandatory defence will come immediately after his defence against Miller against an opponent yet to be decided by the WBA.
Charr was previously the WBA’s secondary titles back in 2017 following a points win over Alexander Ustinov of Belarus. However, Charr was unable to defend his title due to injuries, visa issues and a failed anti-doping test. Ultimately, Charr successfully appealed the failed anti-doping issue via legal loopholes. Charr was due to defend his title against Trevor Bryan in 2021 and 2022 before being downgraded to champion in recess status.
The legal lawsuit by Charr was filed in August of 2021 and was filed for damages against Don King Productions, Epic Sports, The WBA and WBA president Gilberto Jesus Mendoza. In March of this year, the lawsuit was thrown out; however, this was successfully appealed by Charr. Charr is also seeking to recover a purse of $1,500,000, which he had been entitled to following Don King Productions’ successful purse bid for the original 2021 encounter.
Daniel Dubois would ultimately defeat Bryant in 2022 to claim the WBA secondary title and, therefore, secure mandatory status to challenge for the unified heavyweight title against Oleksandr Usyk, which ultimately took place on August 26 in Wroclaw, Poland.
