- Arena Box-Promotion, headed by Ahmet Oner, has won the WBC welterweight eliminator purse bid for Ermal Hadribeaj vs Bakary Samake at $339,817.
- Samake Promotions came in second at $281,800 — the winner gets a 10% bonus on top of a 50/50 split, and the bout is heavily tipped for May 24 in Oberhausen, Germany.
- Make no mistake — the winner is Mario Barrios's mandatory at welterweight, and that's a proper carrot for two fighters who've been doing the dirty work in the European 147 scene.
Right Then — A Properly Important 147lbs Eliminator
Right then, the welterweight division below Mario Barrios just got a lot more interesting on Tuesday. The WBC pulled the trigger on the purse bid for the final eliminator between Albania's Ermal Hadribeaj and France's Bakary Samake, and Ahmet Oner's Arena Box-Promotion ran the table. Their winning bid: $339,817. Samake Promotions came in at $281,800. Done.
Ninety per cent of that gets split fifty-fifty between the two fighters. The winner pockets the remaining ten per cent on top. The losing promoter doesn't get a sniff. That's how the WBC does it, and that's why these auctions matter — they decide where these big-pressure contests land.
What's Actually At Stake
Let's not beat around the bush — this is for the mandatory shot at Mario Barrios's WBC welterweight title. That's the prize. Whoever walks out of the ring with the win is next in line for the El Azteca champion, and given the depth at 147 right now, that's a proper opportunity.
Hadribeaj is the WBC's number-one ranked Albanian — he's been a working pro on the European circuit, brings a classic continental tempo to the ring, and he's on a long-running unbeaten streak. Samake, meanwhile, holds the WBC Silver title and brings the French school's clean, snappy lead-hand work. He's been the busier of the two and he's the rated man going in.
The Backstory — From Okolie-Yoka Cancellation To New Card
This bout was originally penned in for the Okolie-Yoka card, which fell over last week. Rather than let it drift, the WBC went straight to a new auction to keep the mandatory pipeline moving. That's a tidy bit of administration. Sanctioning bodies cop a lot of stick — and the WBC cops more than most — but on this one, they've kept the wheel turning.
German outlet boxen1.com has flagged May 24 in Oberhausen as the likely landing spot. Arena Box-Promotion is a German operation, Oberhausen's a fight town, and the date works for both camps. Don't expect the formal announcement to be far away.
Style Pick — And Why The Number Two Bid Tells A Story
If you know the European 147 scene, you know Samake's the cleaner, faster boxer. He's the WBC Silver champion for a reason — he's already seen off contenders at this level and he punches with proper authority for a French welterweight. Hadribeaj's got the come-forward pressure, the chin and the durability, and Albanian boxing's been on the up.
The fact Samake's own promoter put nearly $282,000 on the table tells you he believes the price of this fight matched the upside of the title shot at the end of it. Arena Box backing themselves at $339,817 says the same. Two pros betting that the winner of this is genuinely next.
Pick? Samake on points. He's the more rounded boxer, he handles pressure well and the WBC Silver belt experience matters. But Hadribeaj drags him into a war and you wouldn't bet against an upset on the cards in Germany. Either way, the 147lbs picture below Barrios just got a lot clearer. Class to see this kind of eliminator getting made properly. More like this, please.