Matchroom Boxing and Diego Pacheco are not interested in pursuing a WBC super middleweight interim title fight against Christian Mbilli.
"It is very unfortunate that Pacheco has pulled out of the process for the ordered fight versus Mbilli. The WBC hereby cancels tomorrow's purse offer," WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman
announced Monday on social media.
If a successful purse bid ensued Tuesday and the fight moved forward, the winner
would position themselves for a potential shot at the full crown currently held by The Ring, WBA, WBC, and WBO super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez.
It is unclear if the WBC will pursue a different path for an interim title. Sulaiman told The Ring the WBC will further assess the situation with its board of governors.
Mbilli is the No. 1 rated contender with the WBC, Pacheco is No. 2. Both fighters are ranked the same by The Ring, and neither fighter has a fight that has been announced. Pacheco is ranked No. 1 by the WBO and Mbilli is ranked No. 2.
The proceedings mark the second time the pair have failed to pursue negotiations for a fight through a sanctioning body. In November, the IBF ordered a title eliminator between Mbilli and Pacheco but Pacheco (23-0, 18 KOs) pursued a January 25 fight against Steven Nelson and notched a unanimous decision win.
In February, Mbilli (28-0, 23 KOs)
opted not to pursue an IBF-ordered title eliminator against Kevin Lele Sadjo on May 8 in Paris. Mbilli promoter Camille Estephan of Eye of the Tiger Management passed on the pitting after feeling they were “duped” and "outbid unfairly” by Sadjo promoter Y12 Boxing.
Mbilli last fought in August and scored a 10-round unanimous decision against Sergiy Derevyanchenko.
Manouk Akopyan is a lead writer for The Ring. He can be reached on X and Instagram @ManoukAkopyan.