Wayne Braithwaite's path to boxing glory seems far more assured now as defending World Boxing Council cruiserweight champion Juan Carlos Gomez has relinquished his belt, leaving the Guyanese number one challenger to fight a lower ranked for the vacant title.

Internet boxing website fightnews.com reported that Gomez has moved up to the light heavyweight division after encountering weight problems at cruiserweight.As a result Braithwaite and number one ranked Vincenzo Canatore will battle for the vacant title, after they were thus appointed by the WBC.

The 25-year-old New York-based Braithwaite is undefeated in 18 fights and has knocked out all but two of his opponents. He attained the WBC number one ranking by stopping Luis Azille inside two rounds on the Lennox Lewis versus Hashim Rahman card in November.

Braithwaite's manager Buxo Potts feels that Braithwaite's elevation to world champion status is a foregone conclusion and concludes that Gomez has avoided his fighter.

In a telephone interview from his home in Trinidad and Tobago yesterday, Potts said Braithwaite's prowess scared off the Cuba-born Gomez. "When they saw the tapes (video) of how Braithwaite destroyed Dale Brown and how he demolished Azille, they knew it was pointless fighting Wayne," Potts stated. "He is going to be the next Roy Jones or even Muhammed Alli of the cruiserweight department."

Potts added that the Braithwaite-Canatore bout could be staged as early as mid April, the said date the Guyanese was scheduled to challenge Gomez in a mandatory defence.According to Potts, the fight could provide an excellent opportunity for Guyana to stage its first world title fight as he intends pursuing that possibility. "It just needs some assistance from Government in terms of finance. I called the Office of the President (Jagdeo) yesterday to seek a meeting to discuss the matter and was referred to the Ministry of Sports," Potts said, adding that he hopes to meet Minister Teixeira soon.Meanwhile Guyanese Melroy Corbin now based in Trinidad and Tobago failed in an attempt to win the World Boxing Organisation continental title in Russia last weekend. According to the Trinidad Express newspaper, Corbin was knocked out in the second round by Alexi Komorosov of Russia in a scheduled 12-rounder on Saturday night. The loss was Corbin's second in seven professional fights while the Russian moved to a 9-1 record. In a telephone call to his Trinidad manager, Corbin reportedly complained of the cold conditions in Russia but admitted he was beaten by a better fighter.