Boxer Krishnil Mudaliar, also known as “The Cobra,” from Suva, is confident that he should be the number one contender for a new lightweight title. He held both the super Featherweight and lightweight championships, but they were taken away during the COVID-19 period.
In March 2020, Mudaliar had just earned the lightweight title after defeating Junior Farzan Ali at the FMF Gymnasium in Suva before the pandemic halted all contact sports in Fiji. According to him, Dr. Subhash Appana, the former Boxing Commission of Fiji chairman, stripped the titles from boxers who didn’t defend them within six months during that time.
Mudaliar alleges that his lightweight title was revoked by Appana without any explanation. He complained that all the boxing categories, from bantamweight to heavyweight, were stripped of their titles if they weren’t defended in the period of three to six months.
Now, the lightweight title is set to be competed for in Labasa in August’s South Pacific Boxing Promotion by fighters Ubayd Haider and Saimoni Ratu. Mudaliar is unclear on how those two were selected to sign the contracts for this bout, which has been approved by the Boxing Commission of Fiji (BCF).
The 35-year-old boxer urged the BCF and the promoters to operate within the sport’s rules. He expressed his frustration about the stripping of titles and insists that he should be given the chance to defend his title against any challenger to claim the new title.
Mudaliar’s most recent fight was in May of this year when he was defeated by Haider at Prince Charles Park in Nadi during the South Pacific Boxing Promotion.