If the interim bout is finalized, it would mark the third time Giyasov’s mandatory shot has been pushed aside.
The delays have come in three stages:
• First bypass: The WBA allowed a unification bout between Eimantas Stanionis and Jaron Ennis in April 2025 after Giyasov agreed to step aside.
• Second bypass: After Ennis stopped Stanionis and later moved up to 154 pounds, the title passed to Rolando Romero, but the ordered Romero–Giyasov fight never materialized.
• Potential third bypass: Instead of enforcing that mandatory defense, the WBA is now considering an interim title fight between Giyasov and Curiel.
Rolly has not fought since May 2025, when he defeated Ryan Garcia to win the WBA’s secondary welterweight title. After Ennis vacated the WBA belt while moving up to junior middleweight, Romero was upgraded to full champion. Under normal circumstances, his first obligation would have been to defend the title against the mandatory challenger.
Instead, negotiations stalled after the WBA ordered Romero to face Giyasov in October 2025. Romero’s team has since pursued higher-profile options, including discussions about a potential unification bout with WBO welterweight champion Devin Haney.
Giyasov last fought on April 12, 2025, stopping Franco Maximiliano Ocampo in the fourth round on the undercard of the Ennis-Stanionis unification fight.
The Uzbek contender has held the WBA mandatory position since February 2024. If the interim fight proceeds, he would once again fight for a secondary belt while the full championship remains tied up elsewhere.
After more than two years as the mandatory challenger, the delay has become difficult to explain within the sport’s normal title structure.
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