ON THE SIDELINES : Soviet World Title Fight Delayed
LONDON — The first world title fight to be staged in the Soviet Union was postponed a second time today, with a spokesman for the International Boxing Federation citing lack of sponsorship and other promotional problems.
Orlando Canizales, a Texas-based Mexican, was to have defended his IBF bantamweight title against Italian Alessandro Desantis on Nov. 19 in the Armenian capital of Yerevan.
But the IBF’s European representative, John Robinson, said the fight, originally scheduled for last month but called off because of complications over TV rights, had been put off again until December at the earliest.
“The Finnish promoter is unable to go ahead,” Robinson said. “He was trying to get sponsors for the fight, and it never happened. The Russians wanted the fight to go on, but there were problems in the negotiations.
“In addition, the promoters never put up the sanctioning money, which we wanted deposited in New Jersey 14 days before the fight.”
The IBF is headquartered in New Jersey.
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