The World Boxing Council (WBC) has formally confirmed that it will procede with its previously stated intentions to remove ALL Russian and Belarusian fighters from its rankings due to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Belarusian fighters are to be removed due to the country of Belarus having formal political ties and is often referred to as a satellite state of Russia. The move comes as the WBC annual convention takes place in Acapulco, Mexico and was formally announced by WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman.
The move is effective immediately and this continues the WBC’s stance of not sanctioning any WBC title fight’s or fighters in either of those nations or its fighters, despite the WBC light-heavyweight title being currently held by Artur Beterbiev. There is no current plan to remove the WBC title from the Russian at time of publication.
"All fighters from Russia and Belarus are being removed from the WBC rankings," Sulaiman said.
"The WBC will not sanction any fights in those two countries and no national citizen from those two countries can compete for a WBC championship title.
"I wish to express our deep regret for the athletes, for the promoters, for the members of the boxing industry from Russia and Belarus who will suffer with these consequences of the actions outside the ring.
"The WBC believes in peace, believes in fair play, and believes human dignity."