With the WBA and IBF having recently made their moves to set up a mandatory opponent at Welterweight, the WBC has followed in their footsteps and announced a eliminator between Welterweight contenders Cody Crowley, and Abel Ramos. The two are set to face each other on the undercard of the David Benavidez vs. Caleb Plant card on Saturday, March 25th at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas.
Eliminators are bouts between two highly-ranked fighters or contenders for the chance to become the mandatory challenger for a particular world title, usually after participating in a subsequent match to determine the mandatory. Though still unknown whether the winner will receive an interim title to fully mark this achievement – as is usually the case, either Crowley (21-0, 9 KO’s) or Ramos (27-5-2, 21 KO’s) will be expected to face either WBC title holder, Errol Spence Jr. (28-0, 22 KO’s), in the near future or the next best contender to likely fight in a “final eliminator” which will definitively decide the WBC mandatory challenger.
It will be one of the last steps either of these boxers will need to undertake to challenge for a world title. Both fighters have responded to the news and shown excitement at the opportunity they have been handed.
“I definitely had a long journey to get here. This win will mean a lot. One more step to challenge for the world title.” Cody Crowley stated.
Abel Ramos also seemed intent to net a crucial victory for his upcoming bout. “I’m ready to go in, fight and win. I’m not intimidated by Crowley. I`m a veteran and have fought strong fighters. Great victory will lead me to dispute the world title.”
Cody Crowley is considered Canada’s best fighter at Welterweight, and currently sports an undefeated record and appears to be in red-hot form with his latest victory over Josesito Lopez (38-9, 21 KO’s) in April, 2022, but he has never fought for a world title before. American contender Abel Ramos, in comparison, will likely face some difficulties as he has been out for more than a year since losing (by UD) to Luke Santamaria (13-3-1, 7 KO’s) in February of 2022, but has some experience fighting for a world title following a split-decision loss to Yordenis Ugas (27-5, 12 KO’s in 2022.
But while Crowley definitely seems to have all the advantages heading into the match, Abel Ramos is the more experienced fighter and will provide a tough challenge for Crowley to overcome. The culmination of this match will result in the winner potentially needing to face another contender to become the designated mandatory challenger to the WBC title holder. Errol Spence is currently rumored to face former unified Welterweight champion, Keith Thurman (30-1, 22 KO’s).
With Eimantas Stanionis (14-0, 9 KO’s) and Vergil Ortiz Jr. (19-0, 19 KO’s) battling it out over becoming the WBA ‘Regular’ champion – which is simultaneously often to be a mandatory position – in April to Spence’s WBA ‘Super’ title, and Jaron Ennis (30-0, 27 KO’s) already occupying a place as the IBF interim champion at 147 lbs, the undefeated American will have a plethora of strong mandatories to face.
However, Spence Jr.’s career seems to hang into the balance. With him and Keith Thurman supposedly fighting at 154 lbs in a bout that is essentially useless given Jermell Charlo’s (35-1-1, 19 KO’s) – the undisputed champion at Junior Middleweight/Super Welterweight – comments of not wanting to face his stablemate in Errol Spence. Though Spence is only one fight away from becoming undisputed by facing WBO champion Terence Crawford, the two have been at odds for years and made no genuine attempts to arrange a fight.
With several mandatories (or mandatory hopefuls) now emerging, Spence is at a crossroads at 147 lbs where he will be unable to avoid a fight with his mandatories. At 154 lbs, he will not be able to make a name for himself unless Jermell Charlo loses -r vacates – his titles to someone else which would give Spence the opportunity to become a champion in the division himself. However, on a time-by-time basis, Spence will likely not fight for a title at 154 lbs anytime soon with Charlo being injured and several other mandatories now cropping up for the undisputed champion that will keep him busy, at the very least, or result in him losing at some point.
In another scenario, Spence will have to contend with staying at 147 lbs, if he even manages to make weight given he now plans to fight a division above. With Spence not having faced a mandatory opponent since fighting Carlos Ocampo (34-2, 22 KO’s) in 2018, he will be met with plenty of new and challenging opponents to face with the recent uptick of mandatories in the division.
