THE WBC has been ruling over a group of movers and shakers across the weights, deciding where their titles could end up next. At light-heavyweight, David Benavidez kicked off the month of February with a win over David Morrell in Las Vegas.
Last weekend, as the headliner of Riyadh Season’s ‘Last Crescendo’, Dmitry Bivol exacted revenge over Artur Beterbiev, taking possession of all the 175-pound hardware, including the WBC crown. Now, the WBC have ordered Bivol to fight Benavidez next. Whether that is realistic, given the clamour for a third Bivol-Beterbiev meeting, remains to be seen.
Scaling down the weight divisions, the sanctioning body confirmed that Carlos Adames will defend his middleweight title against Meirim Nursultanov next. Adames fought to a controversial draw with Hamzah Sheeraz on February 22.
The super-welterweight mist appears to be clearing a little after Errol Spence Jr withdrew from a fight with champion Sebastian Fundora and Terence Crawford resigned from his position as WBC mandatory, leaving Fundora free to defend against Chordale Booker on March 22.
Still keen to continue their bridgerweight project, Krzysztof Włodarczyk vs. Adam Balski have been thrust together for the interim bridgerweight title, with a date yet to be confirmed.
At cruiserweight, Noel Mikaelyan’s promotional dispute has apparently been resolved so he is free to resume his career. Badou Jack was installed as WBC champion in his absence and Jack defends that belt on April 29 in Canada against Ryan Rozicki.
Elsewhere, at super-lightweight, Dalton Smith is the mandatory challenger and will fight on April 19 in the United Kingdom. At 147, Mario Barrios’ voluntary defence against Abel Ramos means he has a mandatory to deal with next. Souleymane Cissokho will face Edigijus Kavaliauskas in a rearranged final eliminator in Equatorial Guinea on May 3 for that slot.
At super-featherweight, Eduardo Hernandez and Mark Magsayo will be ordered as the final elimination for the right to fight champion O’Shaquie Foster who is in a voluntary phase.
At super-flyweight, Andrew Moloney and Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez will contest a final elimination for the mandatory spot, and at featherweight, Bruce Carrington and Enrique Vivias will fight in a final eliminator in Las Vegas on March 29.
