British super lightweight contender Jack Catterall and American contender Arnold Barboza Jr. are poised to meet in the ring in early 2025 after the two were ordered by the WBO to engage in a mandatory bout. With the winner set to become the WBO mandatory challenger of the super lightweight division, a clash with Teofimo Lopez is further on the cards depending on who comes out on top.
WBO president Gustavo Olivieri relayed the order earlier today [November 26] and indicated the two super lightweights (140 lbs) would have 20 days to reach an agreement for a final eliminator1 bout:
“Please be advised WBO World Championship Committee has ordered negotiations for the Barboza/Catterall Elimination Bout to determine Mandatory Challenger in the WBO 140 lbs division,” Olivieri posted on Twitter/X. “Teams have 20 days to reach terms or purse bids.“
Both Jack Catterall (30-1, 13 KO’s) and Arnold Barboza Jr. (31-0, 11 KO’s) have fought within the past two months and completed wins over former world champions in respectively Regis Prograis (29-3, 24 KO’s) and Jose Ramirez (29-2, 18 KO’s).
The WBO’s recent mandate appears quite long overdue given Barboza Jr. has occupied the #1 position on the WBO’s 140 lbs rankings since June of 2023 but went longer than a year without receiving any sort of opportunity. Catterall is currently ranked at #2, a position he first reached in June of this year after defeating Scottish former undisputed 140 lbs champion Josh Taylor (19-2, 13 KO’s) in May.
Notably, the 20-day deadline imposed on the negotiations between two fighters’ teams is shorter than the WBO’s standard 30-day deadlines, indicating there is a change of policy within the organization for certain fights, or a simple spelling error.
According to “boxing insider” Rick Glaser, the 20-day deadline might be part of a new set of rules that WBO president Gustavo Olivieri has implemented:
“New WBO President [Gustavo Olivieri] has implemented some new rules. One being, if you turn down a World title shot from the [WBO] World Champ, you get totally removed from the [WBO] ratings,” Glaser reported yesterday [November 25]. “[Hamzah Sheeraz], he was the first, turning down a Janibek [Alimkhanuly] title shot. Rightfully, Sheeraz totally dropped from the ratings. Great rule, & that rule is for everyone!“
The possibility therefore exists that the 20-day deadline is a new alteration made by recently-appointed WBO president Gustavo Olivieri.
This coincides with the implementation of another rule mentioned by Glaser where mandatory challengers that refuse to face the incumbent champion are removed from the WBO’s rankings. This has been confirmed to be the case with British middleweight (160 lbs) contender Hamzah Sheeraz (21-0, 17 KO’s) who was removed from his #1 position―per the WBO’s latest update of their rankings―after withdrawing from a WBO purse bid to face WBO & IBF champion Janibek Alimkhanuly (16-0, 11 KO’s).
- A final eliminator in boxing is a high-stakes bout between two fighters, with the winner earning the right to challenge the current champion for a world title―often culminating in them becoming a “mandatory challenger”. It’s often organized by a sanctioning body (like the WBA, WBC, WBO or IBF) between the two highest-ranked contenders. ↩︎
