Darshan Desai Uncrowned Tue, November 3, 2026 at 10:32 PM UTC · 2 min read About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lindolfo Delgado will not be penalized for opting against traveling to Saudi Arabia for his scheduled IBF super lightweight title fight with Arthur Biyarslanov.
The IBF did not strip Delgado of his No. 1-ranked position; instead, on Tuesday, it reordered him to fight Biyarslanov for the vacant championship. The teams have until Nov. 23 to reach a deal or a purse bid hearing will be ordered.
The pair were set to contest the belt on the Saul "Canelo" Alvarez vs. Christian Mbilli undercard this past Saturday in Riyadh until news broke during fight week that Delgado would not make the trip.
Delgado's trainer, Robert Garcia, voiced concerns about their team's safety in the lead-up to the event amid attacks by the militant organization Ansar Allah, otherwise known as the Houthis.
"I got a call from an attorney that's already there, and he told me, 'Look, Robert, we get at least two alerts on our phones every day about missiles. It's happening.' That was already a good reason to say, 'Why would we risk ourselves going out there without being safe and flying to a different country and driving five, six hours to get to the location where the fight's going to be?' It's already looking for trouble."
Garcia also said Team Delgado received no travel information seven days before the event, citing time-zone acclimation and the convoluted route boxers took to Saudi Arabia as major concerns.
Boxers traveling to the kingdom did not fly directly to King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. Instead, they flew to another airport and made an approximately five-hour drive to Riyadh. WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman revealed his trip from Mexico to Riyadh took him more than 35 hours.
The event controversially went ahead this past Saturday, with Alvarez dethroning Mbilli of his WBC title in the main event . There were no injuries on the ground, but a hostile air threat warning was issued on Thursday of fight week after locals reported hearing explosions in the capital.
Source: Sports
