Willie Monroe Jr has had happier birthdays.
The middleweight turns 32 today and should have been in countdown mode to his Saturday night fight against WBC interim middleweight champion Jermall Charlo.
Instead, Matt Korobov will get the opportunity and the payday versus the bigger Charlo twin at Barclays Center and on FOX TV.
A VADA test of Monroe’s bodily fluid showed a heightened presence of testosterone, which is a red flag reading.
The planning parties, including the WBC, and the NY Commission and Haymon Boxing, as Haymon advises Monroe, and the industry giant hashed out the PBC on Fox deal. This event is slated to be the first of the mega deal, which gives boxing more of an over the air, on free TV presence than it has had in decades.
Official word on the status of the Charlo (27-0 with 21 KOs) fight will come today on this face off, which earned the status of main event when the twins flipped a coin for the honor. Korobov, age 35, holds a 28-1 record.
Making 160 should be doable for him, being that he was slated to fight on the Brooklyn card, at 168, against a journeyman type.
The Russian born Florida resident has been agitating for a meaningful scrap for two years, so he’s pretty ecstatic right now.
So, 32 candles to blow out for Monroe today.
His record stands for now at 23-3 and there will be strong emotions for him to contend with this holiday season. The Rochester, NY native works in concert with Texas based strategist Adrian Clark, who will work with Monroe on the best course to reset to after this misstep. “Obviously Willie is very disappointed to not be fighting on Saturday,” Clark told me. “We are preparing a statement to address the situation”.
Here is the release the WBC sent out this morning:
A sample collected from Willie Monroe Jr., pursuant to the WBC Clean Boxing Program yielded an adverse finding for a banned substance.
The WBC feels compelled to provide a preliminary report of the situation in light of the timing of Mr. Monroe’s upcoming bout for the WBC Interim World Title scheduled for December the 22nd.
The WBC’s will afford Mr. Monroe the due process to which he is entitled under the WBC CBP’s Protocol. While the WBC follows its Protocol’s procedures, Mr. Monroe’s situation cannot not be fully and justly adjudicated on a timely fashion for him to fight for the WBC Title. The WBC CBP’s ultimate goal is to protect the health, safety and welfare of boxers. Accordingly, the WBC must fully investigate the specific facts surrounding Mr. Monroe’s reported adverse finding before fully adjudicating the matter.
At this point, the facts known to the WBC indicate that a sample collected from Mr. Monroe yielded an adverse finding for a banned steroidal substance. It also appears that Mr. Monroe disclosed to the sample collector his use of a non-specific “testosterone booster” in his Doping Control Form. Mr. Monroe did not request, nor he received, a Therapeutic Use Exception for any substance.
The WBC CBP provides program participants with multiple educational tools, including a detailed and required webinar which explains important facts about PEDs, banned procedures and other important factors. It is the participants’ obligation to be informed of what the WBC CBP requires of him and adhere to it accordingly.
As always, the WBC will conduct its investigation in the most impartial and supportive manner, and will report a final ruling once it completes the process the WBC CBP mandates.
