how this came to be
A surprise bidder emerged in the Alycia Baumgardner-Delfine Persoon sweepstakes.
Global Combat Collective LLC claimed the promotional rights to the RING/undisputed 130-pound championship. The upstart company submitted $500,000 to outpace Matchroom Boxing ($251,800) and Filiep Tampere ($111,144) during a WBC purse bid held Friday via Zoom.
Matchroom has Baumgardner (15-1, 7 knockouts) under contract for one more fight. Tampere is the manager and regional promoter for Belgium’s Persoon.
Ten-percent ($50,000) will be set aside as a win bonus, per WBC purse bid rules. Baumgardner, The Ring champ, will receive seventy percent ($315,000) as the defending champion. Persoon (49-3, 19 KOs), No. 1 at 130, is due the remaining thirty percent ($135,000) as the mandatory challenger.
The Ring has learned that no actual talks took place between camps, despite the WBC-ordered mandatory title fight and negotiation period.
The lack of progress prompted a purse bid hearing. Matchroom and Tampere each hoped to win. They were both caught off guard by the participation of unknown Global Combat, whose listed representatives include Nelson Lopez Sr. and Sergio Rodriguez. Nelson Lopez Jr. heads Baumgardner’s management team.