Annual WBC convention orders upcoming fights including Wilder vs. Ruiz Jr, Spence Jr. vs. Thurman and Plant vs. Benavidez

The annual WBC (World Boxing Council) convention that was held in Acapulco, Mexico from the 6th of November to the 11th, was attended by many of the WBC’s executives, including its president Mauricio Sulaiman. While the event encompassed many different things including presentations, seminars, petitions and announcements, several mandatory fights were also confirmed during the convention’s fight announcement session on the 9th of November.

At Heavyweight, Deontay Wilder (43-2-1, 42 KO’s) and Andy Ruiz Jr. (35-2, 22 KO’s) will face each other in the near future to claim the mandatory spot to face WBC champion Tyson Fury (32-0-1, 23 KO’s) for his title. Wilder famously defeated Robert Helenius (31-4, 20 KO’s) last October in the first round to claim this opportunity, while Andy Ruiz Jr. soundly beat Luis Ortiz (33-3, 28 KO’s) by unanimous decision to earn the chance to become a mandatory.

wbc convention - deontay wilder vs. andy ruiz jr — Deontay Wilder (left) will be facing Andy Ruiz Jr. (right) for the mandatory spot to face WBC Tyson Fury for his title.

In the Cruiserweight division, Ilunga Makabu (29-2, 25 KO’s) will be allowed to face a voluntary opponent, but will face his mandatory opponent in the following match. While the mandatory for the WBC Cruiserweight division is Noel Mikaelyan (26-2, 11 KO’s), the winner of the final eliminator match between Badou Jack (27-3-3, 16 KO’s) and Thabiso Mchunu (23-6, 13 KO’s) will face the opportunity to face Mikaelyan for his mandatory position.

The Light-Heavyweight division will see Artur Beterbiev (18-0, 18 KO’s) engaged in a bout to defend his WBO belt early in 2023 – with the WBC title also on the line – against Anthony Yarde (22-2, 21 KO’s), while his mandatory fighter Callum Smith (29-1, 21 KO’s) will be facing a tune-up fight in which he can lose his mandatory position if he loses. It is expected that whoever comes out on top in either of these bouts between the WBC’s champion and the mandatory challenger, they will be mandated to fight each other.

wbc convention - artur beterbiev image — Artur Beterbiev will likely be facing Anthony Yarde in January after an earlier scheduled match was canceled due to Beterbiev suffering an injury. (Photo by Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc via Getty Images)

The Super Middleweight division will see WBC’s interim champion David Benavidez (26-0, 23 KO’s) face the nr.1 contender of the WBC in the division, Caleb Plant (22-1, 13 KO’s), for the mandatory position. The winner of that bout will thereafter be the mandatory contender to face the undisputed champion of the division, Canelo Alvarez (58-2-2, 32 KO’s), for his title(s). Christian M’billi, the WBC’s Continental Americas champion, will be expected to face Ali Akhmedov (19-1, 14 KO’s) in a semi-final eliminator match to face whoever will be the WBC mandatory challenger sometime in the future.

At Middleweight (160 lbs), Jermall Charlo (32-0, 22 KO’s) is not engaged in any fights due to an injury, but Carlos Adames (22-1, 17 KO’s) – the WBC’s interim champion – may face Charlo once his injury status has been determined by the WBC.

The Junior Middleweight/Super Welterweight WBC interim-champion Sebastian Fundora (20-0-1, 13 KO’s) will face Tony Harrison (29-3-1, 21 KO’s) in March to determine the WBC mandatory position. The mandatory challenger will thereafter face the winner of the bout between undisputed champion Jermell Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KO’s) and WBO mandatory Tim Tszyu (21-0, 15 KO’s).

wbc convention - sebastian fundora image — Sebastian Fundora will be defending his mandatory position against former WBC champion Tony Harrison. (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)

In the Welterweight division, the WBC has ordered current WBA (Super), WBC and IBF Welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. (28-0, 22 KO’s) to face former WBA and WBC Welterweight world champion Keith Thurman (30-1, 22 KO’s).

While the Junior Welterweight/Super Lightweight division currently has no WBC champion, Jose Zepeda (35-2, 27 KO’s) and Regis Prograis (27-1, 23 KO’s) will face each other on November 26th in a fight for the vacant WBC title. The winner of that match will face former WBC champion Jose Carlos Ramirez as their first mandatory opponent. The winner of the bout between former Lightweight unified champion Teofimo Lopez (17-1, 13 KO’s) and Jose Pedraza (29-4-1, 14 KO’s) – set for December – will be eligible in their next bout to fight in a final eliminator bout i.e. a match to become the become the WBC’s next mandatory challenger in the Super Lightweight division.

With no mandatory challenger in the Lightweight division, undisputed champion Devin Haney (29-0, 15 KO’s) is expected to face Vasyl Lomachenko (17-2, 11 KO’s), while Isaac Cruz (24-2-1, 17 KO’s) will be expected to face former unified Super Featherweight champion Shakur Stevenson (19-0, 19 KO’s) in a final elimination bout to become the Lightweight’s WBC mandatory challenger.

As the Junior Lightweight/Super Featherweight division WBC title is vacant, Rey Vargas (36-0, 22 KO’s) – current WBC Featherweight champion – will be moving up to Super Featherweight to fight O’Shaquie Foster (19-2, 11 KO’s) – the reigning WBC silver champion the past three years – for the vacant title. Eduardo Hernandez (33-1, 30 KO’s) will become the division’s WBC mandatory challenger and face the new WBC champion ,while Robson Conceição (17-2, 8 KO’s) will be fighting Muhammad Yaqubov in a final eliminator bout to determine the second mandatory position for the WBC.

With Rey Vargas currently being the Featherweight’s WBC champion, he will determine after his bout with O’Shaquie Foster whether he will continue as a Featherweight or Super Featherweight. If he decides to continue as a Super Featherweight – win or lose – Vargas will be expected to vacate his current Featherweight title.

In the meantime, Stephen Fulton (21-0, 8 KO’s) and Brandon Figueroa (23-1-1, 18 KO’s) – who faced each other before in the Super Bantamweight unification bout – will be potentially matched in the Featherweight division to determine the WBC’s interim champion. Depending on Vargas’ result against Foster and his decision after his Super Featherweight bout, the bout between Fulton and Figueroa will be for the full title if Vargas remains in the Super Featherweight division, or will remain an interim title if Vargas decides to continue his career as a Featherweight. Concurrently, Mark Magsayo (24-1, 16 KO’s) will face Isaac Dogboe (24-2, 15 KO’s) to become the mandatory challenger for the WBC title.

As, Stephen Fulton, the Junior Featherweight/Super Bantamweight’s current WBC and WBO world champion will be fighting Brandon Figueroa as a Featherweight, the WBC has ordered the WBC’s nr. 1 contender Luis Nery (33-1, 25 KO’s) to fight the WBC’s nr. 2 Azat Hovhannisyan (21-3, 17 KO’s) to become the mandatory contender for the Super Bantamweight division. Nr. 4 contender David Picasso (22-0-1, 11 KO’s) can potentially face the number five-ranked Ra’eese Aleem (20-0, 12 KO’s) for either the division’s interim title, or vacant title – which will be left vacant if Fulton decides to stay on as a Featherweight.

wbc convention - fulton vs. figueroa image — Stephen Fulton Jr. (left) and Brandon Figueroa (right) will face each other once more as Featherweights. (Photo by Steve Marcus/Getty Images)

At Bantamweight, Jason Moloney (25-2, 19 KO’s) has been ordered to fight Nonito Donaire (42-7, 28 KO’s) for either the WBC interim or full title depending on whether the division’s champion – Naoya Inoue (23-0, 20 KO’s) – moves up following his December 13th unification bout with Paul Butler (34-2, 15 KO’s). Nawaphon Sor Rungvisai (56-2-1, 46 KO’s) and Reymart Gaballo (25-1, 21 KO’s) have also been dictated to fight each other for the division’s WBC next mandatory position.

The Junior Bantamweight/Super Flyweight division’s vacant WBC title will be determined between Juan Francisco Estrada (43-3, 28 KO’s) and Roman Gonzalez (51-3, 41 KO’s) as it is made available for their upcoming December 3rd fight. Pedro Guevara (39-3-1, 22 KO’s) will also likely face Andrew Moloney (25-2, 16 KO’s) in a final elimination match to become the division’s WBC mandatory challenger.

In the Flyweight division, WBC champion Julio Cesar Martinez (18-2, 14 KO’s) is expected to face Angel Ayala Lardizabal (15-0, 7 KO’s) in a mandatory defense of his title on December 3rd. If Martinez chooses another opponent, Lardizabal will become the mandatory challenger for his title.

With the current WBC Junior Flyweight champion, Kenshiro Teraji (20-0-1, 12 KO’s), only recently being crowned as the champion and Hekkie Budler (34-4, 10 KO’s) having recently become the WBC mandatory following his unanimous decision win against Elwin Soto in August, the WBC has mandated Teraji and Budler to fight against each other.

At the lowest men’s weight class, Minimumweight, WBC champion Panya Pradabsri (39-1, 23 KO’s) has WBC has ordered Luis Castillo (20-0-1, 13 KO’s) to face Ayanda Ndulani (13-2-1, 4 KO’s) if he’s available, and Melvin Jerusalem (19-2, 11 KO’s) or Yudai Shigeoka (5-0, 3 KO’s) if Ndulani is not capable of fighting Castillo.

Closing off the fighter announcement pressure was longtime boxing inspector and supervisor Charles ‘Charlie’ Giles receiving the WBC’s Lifetime Achievement award.