East vs. West Armwrestling has reportedly banned Michael Todd from competing in the organization, ending a situation that had been building pressure across the armwrestling community. No official statement has been published at the time of writing, but Dexter Tan confirmed the decision during a recent live stream, and the details he gave point to a sweeping set of consequences for Todd’s standing in the league.
The Decision.
According to Tan, Todd’s removal follows reports and announcements regarding his status as a convicted sex offender. The league has canceled his upcoming match against Dave Chaffee, who was reportedly reluctant to compete after hearing how serious the news was, and who had been weighing whether to pull out himself before the league acted. With Chaffee’s hesitation on the record and the community reaction growing, EVW appears to have concluded that the match could not go ahead as scheduled.
Dexter in his recent live show said: “The official statement will come out tomorrow (on the main channel), but Michael will no longer be pulling at EVW. There is also the removal of him from the rankings…” He went on to discuss stripping Todd of his light heavyweight title, which would remove the most visible marker of his place in the organization and leave the division without its reigning champion.
Finding a Replacement for Budapest.
The cancellation leaves a hole on the Budapest card, and EVW is already working on it. Robert Baxter has spoken about reaching out to Oleg Petrenko, the former right-arm light heavyweight champion, to step in against Chaffee in Todd’s place. Petrenko is a name with real weight in the weight class, so if the booking comes together, it would give the card a recognizable replacement rather than a filler opponent, and it would give Chaffee a fight that carries meaning at the top of the division. Nothing has been confirmed, and the match-up should be treated as a possibility until EVW announces it.
A Decision With a Price Tag.
Tan was direct about what the call costs. He said that keeping Todd and banning Todd would both carry financial consequences for the organization, which means EVW chose between two expensive options rather than between a safe path and a risky one. Removing a champion and a ranked name from a pay-per-view card affects the marketing, the matchmaking and the story the event was built around, and Tan acknowledged all of that openly.
He also explained that the decision was not his alone. He said he made the call together with Baxter and described it as the most reasonable conclusion the two of them were able to reach. Tan added that he expects it to be an unpopular decision, which suggests he is aware that a portion of the fanbase will disagree with the removal, whether over the title, the ranking or the precedent it sets.
The Pressure From Fans.
The financial argument pointed in both directions, and Tan made that clear by describing what he had been hearing from viewers. According to him, many people messaged him privately to say they would stop buying the pay-per-view if Todd was not allowed to compete.
What Happens Next?
The next marker is the official announcement on EVW’s main channel, which Tan said would arrive the following day. Until the league publishes it, everything above rests on Tan’s live comments and on the reports he referenced, so the precise wording on the ban, the title, the rankings and the Budapest replacement may differ once it lands. Fans who want the final version should watch for that statement, since it will be the first time the league puts its position in writing.
Your Take.
EVW has made a choice that costs it money whichever way it went, and it has done so knowing that part of its audience will object. Was banning Todd the right call, or should the league have handled it differently? Let us know in the comments.
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