In professional boxing, often who you know, or, more to the point, who you are represented by, goes a long way to determining opportunity. Time after time, we see the same names get recycled at the top level of the sport, even if fighters have had bad performances or knockout losses. These are fighters who have connected promoters and managers. Their representatives have been able to successfully leverage their own standing in the sport to get their guys additional chances.
Yet, there is another group of top fighters. These fighters often wait years for a shot, irrespective of their talent level. It doesn't matter if they have shiny records or beat quality opposition; they remain on the outside looking in.
Albert Bell (from Toledo, Ohio) and Jordan White (from the Washington D.C. area) are two such fighters. Despite dominating credible opposition for years, they still wait for a title shot. Bell, already 33 years old, sports a sterling record of 27-0. He's a brilliant boxer who uses his range and athleticism to outbox opponents. Once upon a time he was signed with Top Rank and despite beating solid, undefeated prospect Andy Vences in 2019, by 2021 he was shown the door.
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| Albert Bell after his latest victory Photo courtesy of Vick Green |
Years ago, I had asked a Top Rank executive about Bell and the exec was less than thrilled with him. I said to him that Bell had the ability to win a title, and I'm paraphrasing here, but the exec said not on his watch.
Bell's knock is a lack of power. He only has nine knockouts in his career and four of those have occurred after he was relegated to the promotional wilderness.
White's position is even more baffling. At 27, he's 19-1. He lost his fifth pro fight to Adam Lopez (no shame in that) where he claimed that he suffered a serious arm injury during the bout. White had been a solid amateur with international experience. He also sports 12 knockouts in his 20 pro fights. He's heavy-handed, aggressive and has a TV-friendly style. He's boxed on a Golden Boy show many years ago and also featured in two Showtime cards where he stopped both opponents, yet the big opportunities didn't come.
Both Bell and White have spent most of their career in and around the junior lightweight division, a weight class that has been mostly transient over the last five years. Title winners have come and gone and few have had significant periods of dominance. Yes, Oscar Valdez had a nice run and Emmanuel Navarrete achieved several notable victories, but in this four-belt era, it belies belief that neither of these two has even sniffed a title shot, especially when considering some of the opponents who have been marched out as "challengers."
Bell and White continue to soldier on. They both fought this month and had dominant victories. Vick Green has been promoting Bell on smaller shows and White had his last bout as a headliner on ProBox. Both remain formidable.
I won't pretend that Bell and White are perfect fighters. Bell certainly doesn't like it on the inside and his brand of technical boxing isn't everyone's cup of tea. But his skills are obvious. White may load up too much and as a shorter fighter he may be susceptible to opponents who have length and craft. But they are credible fighters who are long past a shot at a title.
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| Jordan White after his victory earlier this month Photo courtesy of ProBox |
Bell in particular has suffered at the hands of the WBO, who refused to call him as a mandatory challenger even though he was ranked highly in the organization at one point. They dropped him because he was no longer facing as they called it "top opposition," but of course this stance reinforces the vicious circle of professional boxing. If no one credible will face a top fighter, then the fighter gets penalized, all because he is inconvenient to fight.
The current junior lightweight champs are Navarrete, O'Shaquie Foster, and Lamont Roach (the IBF title is currently vacant). Those are three solid fighters, but none of them are without warts and vulnerabilities. I'm not sure if Bell can still make 130 (his last fight was at lightweight), but there's no one at 130 who should scare him. And White would certainly relish his opportunity to bang it out with any of them.
As boxing continues to load up on big cards in the present era, realize that several top fighters remain in the wilderness. It's clear that by now if someone notable wanted to give Bell and/or White a title shot, it would have already happened. And without support from the sanctioning bodies, these fighters won't get mandatory opportunities. Thus, they remain in purgatory.
Bell and White are just two of many in this position throughout the sport. Sure, they might not be huge names and don't have significant followings, but make no mistake, on their night they could give the best in the division real problems. And that may be why they continue to wait. And wait. And wait. And so it goes.
