Ginny Fuchs: “I want people to know that I have been ready. That is misinformation. I have been ready to go.”

Ginny Fuchs: “I want people to know that I have been ready. That is misinformation. I have been ready to go.”

When Ginny Fuchs ended the unbeaten record of Adelaida Maria Ruiz nearly fourteen months ago and captured the WBC interim super-flyweight bauble in the process, it would seem to indicate that the stop-start career of Fuchs had finally found some much-needed momentum. But a gruesome thumb injury sustained in the opening round of her fight with Ruiz, and a little bit of boxing politics, have resulted in the former Olympian still waiting for her fifth professional fight.

Fuchs (4-0) should have been fighting for the full WBC world super-flyweight title proper, but contractual wrangling and other issues resulting from the inner workings of boxing have all resulted in Fuchs kicking her heels in much frustration over the course of this year.

There was much disdain online when the WBC announced a fight for their vacant title between Ruiz and Alexas Kubicki. It was a decision that looked incredibly unfair to Fuchs, especially when Kubicki is coming off a one-sided defeat in her previous outing at the hands of Gabriela Fundora in a fight for the undisputed world flyweight titles.

After also shaking my head, in what appeared to be a somewhat bizarre piece of matchmaking, I reached out to Mauricio Sulaimán, the president of the WBC, for comment.

“The champion, Ashley Gonzalez, was going to defend against Ruiz and then sustained an injury, Sulaimán explained. “The WBC has approved the Ruiz vs. Kubicki fight. Ginny Fuchs has not been bypassed. She is the interim champion of the WBC and was offered a fight against Adelaida Ruiz. Ginny didn’t have a date until February and said she would not be ready in three weeks. The WBC will order the winner of Ruiz vs Kubicki to fight Fuchs, with plenty of time to prepare and the proper financial conditions.

“The WBC German representative, Malte Müller, had also sent me information on the Fuchs situation:

“I have been in constant touch with Ginny‘s manager and promoter over the last two weeks. They accept and respect our decision. Ginny has not fought in fourteen months. I believe she had an injury and then promotional issues, which sidelined her. We recommend that Ginny do a tune-up bout in November or early December before challenging the winner of Ruiz vs. Kubicki for the World Championship. Ginny will definitely get her shot. 

“As for Kubicki, she is a former WBC World Youth and WBC International Champion who lost to Gabriela Fundora, an undisputed World Champion and one of the best fighters pound-for-pound at the moment.” 

As ever in boxing, there does seem to be a slight difference of opinion. I am of the understanding that the then-champion Ashley Gonzalez was mandated to fight Fuchs in March, so it would appear that the WBC felt Fuchs was ready to fight eight months ago.

Over Zoom, I caught up with Fuchs. “I was saying all the time I would be ready,” Fuchs told me. “I know other people were saying that I wouldn’t be ready and that I hadn’t fought in fourteen months. But I was ready the whole time. My thumb has been fine and ready to go since February. I have been training to get a fight since then. It’s just the politics. I want people to know that I have been ready. That is misinformation. I have been ready to go. I am the WBC interim champion; they should have come to me first, but I respect their decision.

“I would have fought her on three weeks’ notice. But they have just given me more time to prepare. It’s funny to me because if I were in their shoes, I would have been thinking this is the time to fight her and take advantage of the situation.”  

Fuchs is now signed with Red Owl Promotions, and the 37-year-old is looking to return next month, before that long-awaited world title opportunity early next year.

“My promoter is working on a tune-up fight for December,” Fuchs says. “But the WBC have promised me that I will fight the winner, and I have a date of February 6th.”

The WBC and Sulaimán, to their immense credit, replied promptly to my questions on this issue. But with the greatest of respect to Alexas Kubicki, it does seem an incredibly strange decision to reward her with another world title shot so soon after her one-sided defeat to Fundora in September, in a fight that was obviously in another weight division also. You would hope there would be more deserving contenders available. But that said, Ginny Fuchs is now seemingly guaranteed that deserved opportunity early next year. Better late than never, some might say.