Ratings and mandatory defenses were the order of the third day at the 45th annual WBC convention in Manila, Philippines. The proceedings, were long, grueling and often times resembled a battle in the ring. Tempers flared, several times, but a semblance of order was maintained in the end. The first portion of the day was dedicated to the final decisions regarding rankings, while the afternoon was dedicated to ratifying the mandatory defenses in each division. The following were the decisions made from the heavyweight division downward:
——————————————————————————– Heavyweight: Kali Meehan from #17 to #15 based on the strength of his recent knockout of DaVarryl Williamson;Michael Moorer from #12 to #11; and David Tua from #11 to #12 —– If either Oleg Maskaev or Samuel Peter are injured prior to their February clash to unify the WBC title, Vitali Klitschko will step in to fill the vacancy. If the Maskaev ? Peter bout goes ahead as planned, negotiations were ordered to ensue for a final eliminator between #1 Vladimir Virchis and #2 Juan Carlos Gomez. That winner will still have to wait for their shot as Klitschko will face the Maskaev ? Peter winner first. ——————————————————————————– Cruiserweight: Contrary to previous reports according to agent Don Majeski, new champ David Haye will stay at Cruiser and defend his title, but has a year to make a mandatory as he was the mandatory challenger coming into his clash with deposed champ Jean Marc Mormeck. Meanwhile, #1 Matt Godfrey will need to fight a final eliminator against #2 Rudolf Kraj. Godfrey already has signed to defend his NABF title against Jeremy Williams on November 24th. ——————————————————————————– Light Heavyweight: Hugo Garay moves from #12 to #11; —– Chad Dawson must next defend against mandatory challenger Adrian Diaconu, who had to withdraw in September from his challenge with an injury two weeks prior to the bout. ——————————————————————————– Super Middleweight: Universum Matchmaker Hedi Taoub moved that Denis Inkin rise from #3 to #2, switching with Jurgen Braehmer, thus matching Inkin and Carl Froch for the final eliminator to become new champ Joe Calzaghe’s mandatory challenger. ——————————————————————————– Middleweight: Sebastian Zbik fom #20 to #15; Randy Griffin from #15 to #12 (replacing Mariano Carrera who was just stopped in a WBA eliminator); Fulgencio Zuniga from #14 to #10; Sergio Mora drops from #6 to #11 (fighters from #11 up to #7 shift upward on slot) —– If Jermain Taylor decides to, and makes the middleweight limit in the rematch with new champ Kelly Pavlik, that will count as a mandatory defense, otherwise Pavlik’s obligation is a year from his win over Taylor (September 29, 2008). There is still a swirling of scuttlebutt as to whether or not Taylor will stick to his prefight declaration to never fight at 160 again. ——————————————————————————– Super Welterweight: Vincent Vuma moves from #13 to #10; James Kirkland goes from #11 to #9 (Saul Roman swaps places with Kirkland) —– It is unclear whether not champion Vernon Forrest’s title defense against #2 Michele Piccirillo will serve as a mandatory defense since nobody knows what current #1 Oscar DeLaHoya’s plans are as far as which weight class he’ll fight in. ——————————————————————————– Welterweight: Ricky Hatton will be the mandatory challenger when he meets Floyd Mayweather on December 8, 2007. ——————————————————————————– Super Lightweight: Sulaymane M’Baye goes from #5 to #3Jose Luis Castillo goes from #3 to #2 (former #2 Marcos Maidana is fighting for a WBA title). Castillo must fight an eliminator against current #1 Timothy Bradley to decide the mandatory. ——————————————————————————– Lightweight: Jose Manuel Lopez goes from #15 to #13 —– A rematch of last weekend’s controversial match for the interim title between champion Joel casamayor and Jose Armando Santa Cruz was ordered. Full WBC champion David Diaz will be allowed to make a voluntary defense while waiting for Casamayor and Santa Cruz to settle things and become the mandatory challenger to unify the WBC belts. ——————————————————————————– Super Featherweight: Leva Kirakosian moves from #10 to #5 —– Juan Manual Marquez’ mandatory is Manny Pacquiao. If ?Pacman? decides to move up to challenge WBC Lightweight champ David Diaz as has been mentioned, then an eliminator will be ordered between #2 Urbano Antillon and #3 Jorge Barrios. ——————————————————————————– Featherweight: Juan Carlos Burgos goes from #17 to #15 (swapping places with Rashiem Jefferson); Fernando Saucedo jumps from #23 to #18 —– Although ranked #1, Gamliel Daiz will not be considered as mandatory challenger when he steps in the ring against champ Jorge Linares on December 15th in Cancun, Mexico. Since his final eliminator against Elio Rojas was considered extremely controversial, the WBC ordered a rematch. Diaz instead took a voluntary shot at the title offered him by the champ Linares. An eliminator will be ordere between #2 Hector Velazquez and #3 ElioRojas to become the next mandatory and the winner will be assured a shot at the title. ——————————————————————————– Super Bantamweight: Alex Ali Baba rises form #20 to #15; Yohnny Peres jumps from #18 to #11 (replacing Genaro Garcia who last lost an IBF title fight) —– Things got really sticky here. Current #1 and former champ Rafael Marquez will meet champion Israel Vazquez for a third consecutive time this Spring. Promoter Gary Shaw has assured the WBC he has signed contracts and a television date with Showtime. However, only a few weeks after their second match, an eliminator was held between thai fighters Naphapol Kiattisakchokchai and Saenghirin Singwancha, which was won by Naphapol. The Thai promoters astutely rose the point that WBC rules don’t allow immediate rematches. President Sulaiman citied exceptional circumstances surrounding the fight of the year candidate. After the smoke cleared, It was agreed that if promoter Shaw could produce the signed contracts later this week after returning to the USA following the convention, then the rematch will go on, with the Thai getting the first shot at the winner. If the contracts aren’t produced by next Friday, Naphapol will get the opportunity right away. ——————————————————————————– Bantamweight: Champion Hozumi Hasegawa is defending against current #1 Simone Malludroto of Italy. Former champ #2 Veerphol Nakhonluang and #3 Vusi Malinga are ordered to fight to determine the next mandatory. ——————————————————————————– Super Flyweight: #1 Jorge Arce and #2 Martin Castillo are signed to square off which will serve as the final eliminator to challenge champion Christian Mijares. ——————————————————————————– Flyweight: Former longtime champion and current #1 Pongsaklek Wonjongkam will met his conqueror Daiuke Naito for a fourth time on January 29, 2008. However, Pongsaklek’s promoters wish for this NOT to be considered a mandatory, due to reasons stemming from some options which were negotiated prior to the pair’s third fight, in which Naito finally wrested the belt, after two KO losses to Pongsaklek. ——————————————————————————– Light Flyweight: Champion Edgar Sosa will be allowed a voluntary defense as #1 Omar Nino and #2 Omar Salgado battle to decide the mandatory challenger, (not who is the best Omar in Mexico). ——————————————————————————– Straweight: Japanese based Thai Eagle Kyowa will fight his mandatory against Thailander Oleydong Sithsanerchai. There had been a debate over whether or not the fight would be held in Thailand, commemorating the king’s 80th birthday or in Japan. After some monetary arrangements were haggled over, it appears the bout will be in Thailand — a natural.
