Fana-Mendez off! Fana to be stripped?

Fana-Mendez off! Fana to be stripped?

Mark E. Ortega

Leave-it-in-the-ring.com

May 11, 2011

Wednesday saw news break that the IBF super featherweight clash between South African based defending champion Mzonke Fana [30-4, 12 KOs] and #1 contender Argenis Mendez [18-1, 9 KOs] of Brooklyn, New York has been scrapped from its original date of June 11^th in South Africa's Carnival City due to Fana claiming he does not have a trainer or proper training facilities to be ready for his mandated defense.

The IBF may decide to strip Fana, which could leave the IBF title up for grabs. With the number two spot in the rankings vacant, and #3 Jason Litzau locked in against Golden Boy Promotions prospect Adrien Broner for June 18^th on HBO, it leaves Mendez without an obvious opponent to fight for the newly available belt.

One name that may not be on the tip of everyone's tongue but could make the most sense is newly inserted into the rankings Eloy “The Prince” Perez [21-0-2, 5 KOs] of Salinas, California, who has been shutting out opponents on Telefutura Solo Boxeo cards the past year plus and has been looking to step up in competition. Perez is coming off another lopsided decision victory over Alejandro Rodriguez last month in San Francisco and has Golden Boy Promotions behind him, which helps make this fight a bit more possible.

Mendez has Lou DiBella behind him, and the fight makes perfect sense for the proposed Golden Boy pay-per-view set for July 30^th that is tentatively going to be headlined by Erik Morales in Las Vegas, Nevada. Neither Perez or Mendez have much drawing power yet, but as an opening telecast fight it serves as an intriguing evenly matched battle that puts Perez in a position to pick up a world title when all other potential opponents were seemingly avoiding him. It also gives Mendez an opportunity to showcase his skills on a major card, which is something DiBella hasn't been able to do yet despite him being on the brink of a title.

Fellow undefeated Luis Cruz balked at the chance to fight Perez earlier this year, as did Litzau and other quality names.

A fight between the two just makes too much sense, which all but kills any hope of it coming off. Perez has been looking to make the jump in competition as he shuts out each lightly paid opponent Golden Boy has found him for their Telefutura cards as of recent. By putting Perez in with Mendez, they would be taking a huge gamble. They would also finally give themselves a chance to make Perez relevant with the top of the division. It could also give them an attractive opponent for their more touted prospect Broner, who didn't look sensational in his HBO debut but has retained the darling status over at Golden Boy Promotions.

Let's see if these two sides can get on the same page and put this one together.