Raymond Ford and Otabek Kholmatov seem to be on their way to fight over the vacant WBA featherweight title that was recently vacated by Leigh Wood. While the match has yet to be officially confirmed, the WBA recently revealed that Top Rank, the promoter of Kholmatov, has won the purse bid over Matchroom who represented Ford.
With Leigh Wood announcing his move up to 130 lbs, the WBA sought a resolution fairly quickly by mandating #1 Uzbeki WBA featherweight contender Otabek Kholmatov (11-0, 10 KO’s) and #2 American contender Raymond Ford (14-0-1, 7 KO’s) to fight for the vacant title.
Reportedly, the fight is set between three dates in 2024: February 16 in New York, February 17 in Riyadh on the undercard of Fury-Usyk, and March 2, also in New York.
Top Rank reportedly won the purse bid by a significant margin with a bid of $317,500, outmatching Matchroom who reportedly submitted a bid of $255,555.
Once the match will be confirmed, the two fighters will step into the ring as undefeated competitors and the WBA featherweight title within reach to be won. Currently, the WBA featherweight title is the only title at featherweight that is vacant, with the other three titles still firmly occupied by their respective holders.
