Shannon Briggs and Fres Oquendo's doomed title fight further evidences the mad governance of the WBA

The winner was meant to face Anthony Joshua, but the fight was always ridiculous and its announcement was a pure victory for the lobbyists that make the boxing machine work

Briggs turns 46 later this year (Getty)

Two dysfunctional fighters never met for an absurd version of the heavyweight world title on Saturday night – because one failed a drug test.

The WBA had sanctioned a meeting between Shannon Briggs and Fres Oquendo for their regular WBA title and the winner, had Briggs not eliminated himself at the chemist's counter, would have been the leading contender for Anthony Joshua.

Well, that was the thinking when the crazy fight was given the blessing of the men in Panama behind the increasingly mad governance of the WBA.

The Oquendo and Briggs fight was a shocking piece of bureaucracy by the WBA from the very moment it was announced. Briggs is 45, lost a world heavyweight title fight to Lennox Lewis in 1998 and Oquendo, a year younger at 44, has not fought since an ugly skirmish in Grozny in July 2014.

The fight's announcement was a pure victory for the lobbyists that make the boxing machine work.

Back in the summer of 2014 in Grozny, under the cold-eye of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, Oquendo dropped a tight decision to Uzbekistan's Ruslan Chagaev, a fighter with an extraordinary history.

Oquendo has challenged three times for a world heavyweight title (Getty)

In 1997 Chagaev won the World amateur championship in Budapest when he beat Fidel Castro's trusty lieutenant Felix Savon in the heavyweight final. The Cubans were agitated at ringside, threw slurs and then punches and a few weeks later Chagaev was stripped; Chagaev had fought as a professional in Chicago, he served a ban and in 2001 won the World amateur title in Belfast.

The world heavyweight title, hepatitis and a season in the sun with Kadyrov and his sanctioned brigands followed.

After the Oquendo loss to what was left of Chagaev there were demands, outrageous claims and some nasty accusations made from a safe distance. Chagaev was soon back in the ring and lost the WBA heavyweight title to Australian Lucas Browne, who then failed a drug test.

Kadyrov was not a happy man and now his ornate throne, which he sits on during world title fights, will remain in storage. Kadyrov has also been known to climb up the steps, get in the ring and start telling Chagaev what to do between rounds. However, his brief ring invasions are tiny mishaps compared to some of the documented and celebrated armed raids Kadyrov has led over the years.

Browne, like Briggs last week, claimed he was innocent and then last summer Chagaev walked off into the wild to hunt the beasts of the dark forest and announced he was done with fighting.

The men in Panama that run the WBA started to compile a list of fringe contenders, faded fighters and assorted loudmouths to get their heavyweight championship cash-cow back on the road. Briggs and Oquendo answered the call.

Briggs failed a drug test in May (Getty)

Now there is a chance that Oquendo, a veteran of 45 fights, could meet a towering Russian called Alexander Ustinov, who is 6.8, 20-stone and 40 at the moment. Ustinov won in 126 seconds last month in Bolton and is a fearsome caricature of the old Eastern-bloc baddie. "I crush Briggs, Oquendo and Joshua," his translator told me at ringside in Bolton.

Meanwhile, on another planet in heavyweight fantasy land Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko are looking at options, dates and financial rewards for a rematch. Tony Bellew could concede about six inches and over three stone if a fight can be made with WBC champion Deontay Wilder, potentially outdoors before the end of October.

Bellew could fight Wilder (Getty)

The Fury boys, Hughie and Tyson, remain in the gym, permanently hopeful and young Hughie is still the mandatory for Joseph Parker, the New Zealander with the WBO belt.

Kadyrov not needing his throne is about the only thing a boxing clairvoyant could predict before the end of the year in a business that does not need Oquendo against Briggs to prove how chaotic and confusing it can be.