Rick Reeno reports today that featherweight titlist and consensus No. 1 at 126 pounds Chris John has passed on an offer to fight 130-pound titleholder Robert Guerrero, and will remain at featherweight for now.
An earlier report at Fightnews had a Guerrero-John clash as sealed for early 2010.
Samspon Lewkowicz, who works for John, had this to say:
"At one point, we did receive an offer from Golden Boy Promotions but we never answered. Chris John has no problems making the weight and we see no reason to move up when all of the action is at 126."
John finally came to the United States in 2009, after years of fan outcry that he was staying in a cocoon in Indonesia, and he twice beat Rocky Juarez. While Juarez nearly stopped him late in both fights, John impressed many with his performances, and may finally be getting the due he has likely deserved for quite a while.
And Lewkowicz is right: The action is at 126. 130 is nearly barren at this point for attractive fights in the States, as even Humberto Soto is moving up to 135 pounds to chase bigger bouts. In the first five months of 2010 alone, there are already three significant featherweight fights signed: Steven Luevano-Juan Manuel Lopez, Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez IV and Yuriorkis Gamboa-Rogers Mtagwa. And there are plenty of more strong contenders, another good titlist in Elio Rojas, and it appears as though Celestino Caballero will soon join the fray.