During the ongoing annual WBC convention in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, the sanctioning body announced its mandatory fights and various situations across its 18 weight classes.
Heavyweight: champion Tyson Fury will face Oleksandr Usyk next February 17 and they have a contract for a rematch, so no mandatory fight was called for.
Bridgerweight: champion Lukasz Rozanski will face Badou Jack on a date to be determined. An “interim” title fight will take place between Kevin Lerena and Senad Gashi on November 25.
Cruiserweight: champion Noel Gevor Mikaelyan recently won the title and will face the winner of Ryan Rosicki-Olanrewaju Durodola on December 2.
Light heavyweight: champion Artur Beterbiev will face No. 1 Callum Smith in Quebec City, Canada on January 13. No mandatory for 12-months.
Super middleweight: Canelo Alvarez is the champion. “Interim” champion David Benavidez (a title not recognized by The Ring, who acknowledges Alvarez as titlist) will face Demetrius Andrade on November 25. The winner will be consider the mandatory challenger.
Middleweight: champion Jermall Charlo will face Jose Benavidez Jr. on November 25 in a non-title fight at 163-pounds. After that, the situation will be assessed involving “interim” titleholder Carlos Adames. The board agreed that there will be a tournament to find the next mandatory challenger.
Junior middleweight: The champion is Jermell Charlo. Serhii Bohachuk will face Fundora for the “interim” belt. Charles Conwell to face the highest available challenger. The winner to fight either for the championship or “interim” titleholder.
Welterweight: The champion is Terence Crawford. Mario Barrios is the “interim” champion. A tournament could be called for to decide the next mandatory challenger.
Junior welterweight: champion Regis Prograis will face Devin Haney on December 9. The winner has to face mandatory challenger Sandor Martin next.
Lightweight: champion Devin Haney will have to decide which weight class he is fighting in after his fight at 140-pounds. Shakur Stevenson will face Edwin De Los Santos for the “interim” title. Once things are clear from Haney weight situation and the Stevenson-De Los Santos fight, the sanctioning body will decide its course of actin.
Junior lightweight: champion O’Shaquie Foster must face the winner of Mahammadkhuja Yaqubov and Pablo Vicente, who will fight on November 25 to decide Foster’s mandatory, who he must face next.
Featherweight: champion Rey Vargas will face “interim” titleholder Brandon Figueroa next. Nick Ball-Isaac Dogboe final eliminator takes place on Saturday.
Junior featherweight: champion Naoya Inoue will face Marlon Tapales in a unification fight that will include the Ring championship. The winner must face mandatory Luis Nery next.
Bantamweight: champion Alexandro Santiago will make a voluntary defense and then he must face mandatory challenger Vincent Astrolabio next.
Junior bantamweight: champion Juan Francisco Estrada is in talks to face WBA titleholder Kazuto Ioka. Pedro Guevara and Carlos Cuadras will fight on Friday for the “interim” title.
Flyweight: champion Julio Cesar Martinez make a defense on December 16 and will face the No. 1 Francisco Rodriguez in February. David Jimenez against the highest available contender to be the mandatory.
Junior flyweight: champion Kenshiro Teraji is free of a voluntary defense. There will be a tournament to find the next mandatory position.
Strawweight: The champion is Yudai Shigeoka. Luis Castillo-Alex Winwood agreed to fight a final eliminator.
Questions and/or comments can be sent to Anson at elraincoat@live.co.uk.
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