Report and Photos: Boxing Bob Newman
Day two proved to be a long one as the ratings and mandatory defenses of both men and women were gone over. This year, the weight divisions were observed starting with strawweights and moving up towards heavyweights, rather than vice versa.
The following movements were observed:
Strawweight, Beaven Sibanda moved from #15 to #13.
Flyweight, former WBA champ Artem Dalakian moved from #15 to #11, on the condition that he comes through with his scheduled February fight.
Super Flyweight saw Don Majeski thanking the WBC for their #2 ranking of Andrew Moloney. In turn, the WBC presented Majeski with a lifetime achievement award.
Super Feathers Khalil El Hadri (#19) and William Vargas (#30) will contest the vacant WBC silver title. Michael Magnesi (#6) will face the winner.
Super Lightweight saw #3 Dalton Smith move to #2, swapping places with #2 Jack Catterall going down to #3. Promoter of both fighters Eddie Hearn of Matchroom supported the move as Catterall is going the WBO eliminator route.
Middleweight Chris Eubank, Jr. moved from #3 to #2.
Cruiserweight saw new #1 Michal Cieslak move back to #3 from whence he came, after the recent draw (12/7/24) between then #1 Ryan Rozicki and #2 Yamil Alberto Peralta, who will resume their respective positions. Champion in recess- Badou Jack took the microphone to proclaim the he is in training and boxing politics have kept him out of the ring. He is ready to take on current champion Norair (Noel) Mikaeljan, or anyone else.
Heavyweight saw WBC Silver champion Lawrence Okolie move from #5 to #4, swapping places with Martin Bakole who will now be #5.
Bantamweight champion Junto Nakatani received an award for his excellent 2024, winning the title and defending it twice in devastating fashion.
Anson Wainwright was recognized for his work with the WBC in enrolling fighters in the WBC clean boxing program.
Rodolfo Vargas of TV Azteca was awarded for the 18th anniversary of TV Azteca and their rescue of free televised boxing in Mexico after Televisa went the PPV route.
The fifth generation.WBC belt was unveiled and will begin being awarded in 2025..it contains a fourth row of flags encircling a larger center plate.
The Polish delegation presented Mauricio Sulaiman with painting of him and his father Don Jose Sulaiman, rendered from a moment during the fight between Oscar De La Hoya and Patrick Carpenter in El Paso, Texas, in June of 1998.
Promoter and organizer.of this convention.Ahmet Öner, received the official WBC ring.
Ring official and ratings board member Daniel Van de Wiele, AKA “Mr. Boxing,” was recognized for working his 500th WBC sanctioned fight recently.
*******
After a lunch break, the mandatory defenses session got underway.
Strawweight: Melvin Jerusalem is in a voluntary status. Yokasta Valle just won the vacant title and today, on the spot, made a unification fight against interim champion Umi Ishikawa.
Flyweight: Kenshiro Teraji is in a voluntary status.
Super Fly: Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez is in a voluntary status. Andrew Moloney vs Roman “Chocolotito” Gonzalez for the mandatory spot.
Bantamweight: Junto Nakatani is in a voluntary stage right now. Dina Thorslund is the current WBC/WBO champion who can’t get the other champions to fight her. Said Thorslund, “I’ll go up to super bantam, feather or super feather for other titles. I want to have more kids in the future, so I want to hurry and get more belts before I retire!”
Super Bantam: undisputed champion Naoya Inoue has an IBF mandatory coming up in Japan against Sam Goodman on December 24.
Featherweight: Brandon Figueroa will rematch Stephen Fulton for the WBC full title as Rey Vargas is injured and champion in recess. #1 rated Bruce Carrington will fight in a mandatory eliminator. Female champion Skye Nicolson is looking at a unification match in Australia. If it doesn’t work out, mandatory Tiara Brown is waiting in the wings. Meanwhile, legendary former champion Jelena Mrdjenovich appealed for a chance to win her title back before she retires.
Super Feather: Champ O’Shaquie Foster is in a voluntary status. A bout between former champ Mark Magsayo and Eduardo “Rocky” Hernandez is ordered for the final eliminator. Foster also received his second belt after winning the rematch with Robson Conceição.
Delfine Persoon has been granted an immediate rematch against Alycia Baumgartner. Their recent fight in September ended in a no-contest due to a severe cut suffered by Persoon from an accidental clash of heads.
Lightweight: A voluntary defense for Shakur Stevenson against Floyd Schofield has been approved. Interim champion William Zepeda is recovering from his shoulder injury sustained in his interim title win over Tevin Farmer.
The board considered approving a tournament between Raymond Muratalla, Tevin Farmer, Isaac Cruz and Keyshawn Davis. However, Davis is going in the direction of another organization and Cruz has fight at Super Lightweight.
Caroline DuBois was elevated to full WBC champion as Katie Taylor has vacated to remain at Super Light.
Super Light: Mandatory challenger Sandor Martin fights champion Alberto Puello on March 1st. #3 Dalton Smith has lobbied to participate in an official eliminator.
Former undisputed champion Chantelle Cameron’s representatives lobbied to become mandatory challenger to Katie Taylor. The board will give an exception for a third match with Amanda Serrano and Cameron’s reps agreed.
Super Welter: Terence Crawford was the mandatory challenger for champion Sebastian Fundora.
Middleweight: Carlos Adames must make two mandatory defenses- first against Hamza Sheeraz on February 22nd in Riyadh. The winner to face Meiirim Nursultanov.
Super Middle: Canelo is in a voluntary stage. Christian Mbilli vs Jaime Munguia for the interim title will be ordered.
Franchon Crews Dezurn is in a voluntary stage.
Light Heavyweight: Undisputed champion Artur Beterbiev will rematch Dimitrii Bivol for all four belts again on February 22nd in Riyadh. The winner of David Benavidez and David Morrell will face the winner of Beterbiev-Bivol II.
Cruiserweight: Champion Noel Mikaeljan has had his mandatory defenses against Ryan Rozicki postponed several times. Rozicki fought for the interim title in a rematch with Yamil Peralta on December 7…to a draw. So interim title remains vacant and full WBC title remains dormant.
Mikaeljan is looking to enact legal action against his promoter of record Don King, which could tie him up even longer, outside of the ring.
Champion in recess, Badou Jack eloquently stated, “Since I’m the champion in recess, but ready to reactivate my status, return my status to full champion and place Mikaeljan in the “recess” status. This was met with huge applause. After some back and forth, the WBC decided to honor Jack’s request…he has resumed his status as full WBC champ and will defend against Rozicki, while Peralta will fight Cieslak for the interim title. Mikaeljan’s status will be protected until such time as his inactivity issues resolved.
Bridgerweight: champion Kevin Lerena will likely defend against silver champion Serhiy Radchenko in Kiev, Ukraine on February 22nd. The WBC also approved an interim championship fight between former cruiser champ Krzysztof Wlodarczyk and #1 rated Adam Balski. It was found from an independent report, that Wlodarczyk lost his title against a PED using Grigory Drozd, which was covered up.
Heavyweight: The WBC will have an interim title fight between Agit Kabayal and Zhilei Zhang. President Sulaiman explained that the WBC does not want to stand in the way of unified status in boxing while still allowing opportunities for fighters.
The WBC talent show will take place tonight, highlighted byusix from the “LOW BLOW BAND!”
