In what has been a slow news day for boxing, video journalist Broadway Joel took advantage of the open space and hosted an interview with WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman on his YouTube page. Although a good part of the discussion revolved around WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs) and how they will not allow unified champion Artur Beterbiev (19-0, 19 KOs) to fight him for the undisputed crown, some interesting things were brought up.
The first was that undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney (30-0, 15 KOs) has until Friday, July 21, to state his intentions regarding staying at 135 lbs or moving up to junior welterweight. This has been the topic of discussion lately as Haney was in a similar predicament with the WBO as everyone thought Teofimo Lopez (19-1, 13 KOs) was retired. After Lopez decided at the final hour that he wasn’t going to retire, Haney was let off the hook with having to decide. Although that happened, it didn’t stop Lopez from calling out Haney and reigniting the heated rivalry between the two lineal champions. The WBC is only one of the titles Haney holds, and unless there is a pot of gold for a fight at that weight class, he may very well move up or allow to be stripped until he is ready to decide on his future.
Mauricio Suliaman Interview https://t.co/6mCqS4fGz3
— Broadway Joel 🇩🇴 (@_BroadwayJoel) July 17, 2023
One of the other names that came up in the discussion was interim WBC super-middleweight champion, David Benavidez (27-0, 23 KOs). With Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez (59-2-2, 39 KOs) facing Jermell Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KOs) in September, many were wondering where that left Benavidez. Sulaiman stated that since Benavidez beat Caleb Plant (22-2, 13 KOs) in March that he isn’t going to be named the mandatory for the WBC title until March 2024, which will be exactly a year from his last fight. This will get interesting as Jermall Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs) recently went on an Instagram live to say he has a signed contract to face Canelo after his brother’s fight in September. As they try to figure this out, things could get a little messy for the WBC. Stay tuned for more on this story as it continues to develop.
