WBA Ratings & Mandatory Defenses Meeting
The WBA ratings and championship committee went through both the female and male ratings from heavyweight on down.
This was the most attended meeting of the convention- loaded with managers, promoters and agents, representing fighters and stumping for improved ratings and potential matchups.
Heavy: super champ is Oleksander Usyk. Murat Gassiev upset Kubrat Pulev to inherit the mandatory of Moses Itauma.
Cruiser: Gilberto Ramirez is expected to defend his WBA/WBO titles against David Benavidez in early 2026.
Light Heavy: Super champ Dmitriy Bivol has no mandatory and regular champ Benavidez is moving to Cruiser via special request.
Super Middle: Super champ Terence Crawford, Interim champ Jose Resendiz has a voluntary defense scheduled in 2026.
Middle: champ Erislandy Lara has no mandatory, just defended against late sub Johan Gonzalez last week. Shane Mosely, Sr. asked for Shane Jr. to be ranked by the WBA, despite last week’s loss in a WBC Interim title fight.
Super Welter: champ Abass Baraou will unify against WBO champ Xander Zayas soon. Interim champ Jaron Ennis is in negotiations with WBC interim champ Vergil Ortiz, Jr.
Welter: Rolly Romero requested to make an optional defense. The mandatory challenger is Shakhram Giyasov. The board will vote on Romero’s request soon.
Super Light: champ Gary Antuanne Russell will fight his mandatory Andy Hiraoka in February.
Light: Gervonta Davis, no mandatpry challenger as of now. The board has to look into the legal situation with Davis to determine the next step in the division.
Super Feather: champ is James Dickens (was interim champ, now elevated to full champ with Lamont Roach moving up to lightweight). Elnur Samedov won an eliminator to become the mandatory.
Feather: champ Nick Ball defending against Brandon Figueroa in a mandatory defense.
Super Bantam: champ Naoya Inoue will face WBC mandatory David Picasso on December 27.
Bantam: champ Seiya Tsutsumi will fight interim champ Nonito Donaire in two days (Wednesday, Dec. 17th). The winner is to fight Antonio Vargas in 120 days.
Super Fly: champ Jesse Rodriguez, no mandatory.
Fly: Ricardo Sandoval, mandatory to be determined with a new eliminator fight. The previous eliminator between Angelino Cordova and Yankiel Rivera ended in a draw.
Light Fly: champ Kyosuke Takami unifying with WBO champ Rene Santiago on Wednesday, Dec 17th. There is no mandatory at this time.
Minimum: super champ Oscar Collazo, regular champ is Ryusei Matsumoto, no mandatory as of now.
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