DESPITE there being ample talent at 130lbs, not least regarding the four current champions, the division has suffered, at least to some extent, from a lack of urgency to crown one, definitive ruler.
Naturally, O’Shaquie Foster, who holds the WBC belt, remains convinced that he is the top dog at super-featherweight.
But of course, it is all well and good him saying that when three other men, all with comparable credentials, would almost certainly make the exact same proclamation.
As of now, the remaining champions include Emanuel Navarrete (WBO), Eduardo Nunez (IBF) and Lamont Roach Jr (WBA), though Roach, who looks set to face Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz at 135lbs, is likely to be stripped of his title before long.
Yet regardless of that, Foster, 23-3 (12 KOs), has become somewhat disillusioned while holding his position, claiming that any attempt to secure a unification showdown has only been met with rejection.
“These guys have had so many chances to unify with me,” the 32-year-old told Boxing News. “I’ve asked for each one of them, I’ve been in negotiations with each one of them, and none of them want to [unify].
“I’m talking about Lamont [Roach], Navarrete and not Nunez after he became a champion, but before [he won the IBF title] we were supposed to get it on, and they turned it down.
“All of these guys don’t be wanting to fight. I don’t put too much pressure on it [unifying the division] no more, because you can’t force them to fight me.”
Frustrated, Foster has been left to search elsewhere for his opportunities and, as a result, will face WBC featherweight champion Stephen Fulton on October 25.
While an intriguing matchup, his next assignment no doubt represents a secondary option, which seemingly came about after every possible unification had been explored.
When considering that both Foster and Navarrete fight under the same promotional banner, too, it is especially bewildering that ‘Ice Water’ has encountered this rather undesirable juncture in his career.
“We’re with the same people [Top Rank], so we’ve enquired [about fighting Navarrete] but they’ve been saying no,” Foster said. “We had the same talks [with Roach], but I guess he felt like he wasn’t going to get paid enough for us to unify.”
Even before Nunez collected the IBF strap, Foster was in talks to face Anthony Cacace, who held the red and gold belt at the time, with a view to unify the division earlier this year.
Cacace then vacated his title and secured a ninth-round stoppage victory over Leigh Wood in May, with a call out to Foster arriving soon after.
At that point, though, the American was no longer interested in facing the Belfast man.
“We were trying to make the Cacace fight happen in the UK earlier this year, before he fought [Wood],” Foster said.
“We could’ve unified the titles, but then he called me out after [the Wood fight], so it’s like, ‘Bro, you don’t got nothing I want no more.’
“He [Cacace] got scared of this man Nunez, who got scared of me.”
