American 147 lbs Mario Barrios has become the World Boxing Council (WBC) champion after the sanctioning body’s Board of Governors unanimously decided to promote Barrios, according to the sanctioning body’s press release. The WBC title had previously belonged to Terence Crawford but was taken from him due to his decision to fight at 154 lbs. With Crawford still acknowledged as the WBC 147 lbs champion-in-recess, a future matchup between the newly-promoted champion and Crawford might be on the cards following the WBC’s recent decision.
Terence Crawford (40-0, 31 KO’s) will be challenging WBA super welterweight (154 lbs) champion Israil Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KO’s) for his title on August 3rd, and is highly likely to remain at 154 lbs after having already achieved the goal of becoming undisputed at welterweight (147 lbs) last year―making a matchup with Mario Barrios (29-2, 18 KO’s) in the near future unlikely.
Barrios can now call himself a world champion for the second time of his career since he won the World Boxing Association (WBA) “regular” title in 2019 while competing at super lightweight (140 lbs). Prior to his promotion, Barrios had claimed the WBC welterweight (147 lbs) interim title in September of 2023 by defeating Yordenis Ugas (27-6, 12 KO’s) through a unanimous decision. Since then, Barrios has continued to remain active, defending his interim title against Fabian Maidana (22-3, 16 KO’s)―younger brother of well-accomplished Argentinian boxer Marcos Maidana―on May 4th this year.
Earlier this year, Barrios had been linked with fighting International Boxing Federation (IBF) welterweight champion Jaron Ennis (31-0, 28 KO’s), but an order by the IBF for Ennis to face his mandatory challenger in Cody Crowley (22-0, 9 KO’s) impeded this potential-match up. Ennis is currently poised to face Armenian-Russian 147 lbs contender David Avanesyan (30-4-1, 18 KO’s) on July 13th after Crowley was reportedly not medically cleared to face Ennis.
The recent set of circumstances, however, might now make it possible for Ennis and Barrios to step into the ring for a unification match after Ennis’ bout against Avanesyan. As General Entertainment Authority (GEA) head Turki Alalshikh has shown aptitude in producing competitive matchups and eliminating barriers between fighters aligned to different promotions, Ennis’ recent signing to Matchroom Boxing―which is closely connected to Alalshikh―might make a potential Ennis-Barrios bout not only feasible, but quite likely depending on the motivations of both fighters.
#1-ranked French welterweight [on the WBC’s rankings] Souleymane Cissokho (17-0, 9 KO’s) now emerges as the prime candidate for Barrios to face next. While Cissokho has not been acknowledged as the mandatory challenger, the Frenchman had been close to securing a final eliminator1 match against Crowley to earn this distinction.
The WBC can now decide to again order Cissokho to face the next best contender, which could be against the #2-ranked British welterweight Conor Benn (23-0, 14 KO’s) had he not been recently put on a provisional suspension indefinitely. Due to those reasons, it is possible #3-ranked Mexican contender, Raul Curiel (15-0, 13 KO’s), could be matched with Cissokho in a final eliminator.
Alternatively, the WBC could also simply appoint Cissokho directly as the mandatory contender for Barrios to face.
- bouts between two high-ranked contenders to decide the mandatory challenger of a division ↩︎
