WBC announce that Julio Cesar Chavez Jr is Sakio Bika's mandatory.

So after James DeGale's final eliminator with Badou Jack fell through, after Jack was wiped out in his tube up bout.

Somehow WBC has bypassed James DeGale and installed Chavez Jr as Bika's mandatory.

I have no clue how this decision has been reached.

DeGale is the WBC 'silver' super middleweight belt holder.

Chavez Jr has only fought at super middleweight once...

Bizarre all round if you ask me.

Anyway could lead to a unification bout with Ward, as he was unjustly stripped of the WBC title.

Why would Ward want to unify? They'll only strip him and give it back to Chavez.

Ignore the ABCs and boxing becomes almost palatable. HBO seem to be making noises about a GGG vs Chavez fight.

WBC want to make mountains of cash off of Chavez Jr's back, as they did at middleweight by gifting him the WBC middleweight title and demoting Sergio Martinez to Silver Diamond Regular Interim Champion.

Better to just think of Ward as champion and everyone else as contenders (regardless of what belt they hold). Ward's already whupped the other belt holders in any case.

This is just a way for the WBC to make money from a fighter that generates lots of it.

Now now STC - It was the WBC World middleweight Diamond Intercontinental Junior Commonwealth Championship... That last bit (commonwealth) is the real reason Martinez flipped them the bird. Imagine an Argentine being her majesty's champion

hazharrison wrote:Why would Ward want to unify? They'll only strip him and give it back to Chavez.

Ward's biggest purse of his career thus far was the $2m he made against Edwin Rodriguez.

A unification against a cash cow like Chavez Jr should earn him $4-5m.

kingraf wrote:Now now STC - It was the WBC World middleweight Diamond Intercontinental Junior Commonwealth Championship... That last bit (commonwealth) is the real reason Martinez flipped them the bird. Imagine an Argentine being her majesty's champion

I think, since the Falklands War, we technically own all Argentinians any way.

I might be wrong.

Gerry SA wrote:

hazharrison wrote:Why would Ward want to unify? They'll only strip him and give it back to Chavez.

Ward's biggest purse of his career thus far was the $2m he made against Edwin Rodriguez.

A unification against a cash cow like Chavez Jr should earn him $4-5m.

Oh, he'd chop an arm off to land a Chavez fight, it'd be his PPV debut. I don't see any attraction in unifying belts, though. Ward's the boss at 168.

hazharrison wrote:

Gerry SA wrote:

hazharrison wrote:Why would Ward want to unify? They'll only strip him and give it back to Chavez.

Ward's biggest purse of his career thus far was the $2m he made against Edwin Rodriguez.

A unification against a cash cow like Chavez Jr should earn him $4-5m.

Oh, he'd chop an arm off to land a Chavez fight, it'd be his PPV debut. I don't see any attraction in unifying belts, though. Ward's the boss at 168.

Totally agree about Ward being the governor at SMW.

But aside from moving up to LHW, he's running short of opponents.

Degale has not really done enough to earn a title shot for me, but surely has more claims to fight Bika than Chavez. End of the day though Chavez will bring big money to the fight Degale has drifted from rising star to the status of no mark, joining Hennessy was a massive mistake by him.

hogey wrote:Degale has not really done enough to earn a title shot for me, but surely has more claims to fight Bika than Chavez. End of the day though Chavez will bring big money to the fight Degale has drifted from rising star to the status of no mark, joining Hennessy was a massive mistake by him.  

DeGale's worked his way up the WBC rankings.

So he's certainly been shafted.

Would be carry around the WBC 'silver' whatever it's called title if he knew he'd get bypassed by someone who's had one fight at 168?

Degale will get a title shot soon enough, providing he keeps winning. He's fairly highy ranked. If the WBC title shot falls throught then there's a chance he could take on the Froch/Groves winner. Even a crack at Abraham is realistic.

STC wrote:Degale will get a title shot soon enough, providing he keeps winning. He's fairly highy ranked. If the WBC title shot falls throught then there's a chance he could take on the Froch/Groves winner. Even a crack at Abraham is realistic.

I was under the impression that Abraham and Stieglitz would rematch each other at least another 2/3 times...

I mentioned in another thread that with Chavez there is no such thing as protocol with the WBC..

Like I said Degale may become mandatory after he beats Bika.......But If Chavez say's up yours....Up yours it is.

Getting a bit sick of the WBC's obsession with Chavez now. I would have thought with Sulaiman popping his cloggs that it may be differemt, guess not.

If chavez says 'up yours', you ask 'how far up, sir?'

JabMachineMK2 wrote:Getting a bit sick of the WBC's obsession with Chavez now. I would have thought with Sulaiman popping his cloggs that it may be differemt, guess not.

Sulaiman's Son is in charge now..

Gerry SA wrote:

STC wrote:Degale will get a title shot soon enough, providing he keeps winning. He's fairly highy ranked. If the WBC title shot falls throught then there's a chance he could take on the Froch/Groves winner. Even a crack at Abraham is realistic.

I was under the impression that Abraham and Stieglitz would rematch each other at least another 2/3 times...

Quite possibly.

Quote from Mauricio Sulaiman, head of WBC.

“Chavez was champion at middleweight,” he continued. “I don’t think anyone can doubt he is a world-class fighter, he is a former champion and he was rated at middleweight. He was ranked number two, he was ordered to face Marco Antonio Rubio but he informed the WBC he would campaign at super-midddleweight instead. I believe he was then installed at number three. George Groves was rated higher but he signed a contract to fight for another organisation [against IBF and WBA champion Carl Froch]. Chavez moved up the rankings by default, rather than being placed straight in at number one.”

“We have many examples of fighters – like Tony Bellew who is ranked at cruiserweight – who are rated in divisions they have not yet fought in. We will rate them in the division they intend to compete in.”

Sulaiman went on to explain why a fighter like Groves is seemingly punished for fighting for a rival belt.

“The rankings sole purpose is to list those fighters eligible to fight for the WBC title. It is not a popularity contest, it is not a way of saying who is best in the division. How can we list a fighter if he is not eligible to fight for our title? They would be taking the place of a fighter who is allowed to fight for our title.

“So if George Groves states his intention to fight for another championship, we cannot retain his ranking because he is busy for three to six months [preparing and fighting for another title] and he holds up other fighters who are eligible. I understand the confusion; there are many organisations and many champions.

“Our ratings system is open. It is formed by 22 people around the world who will send in results and recommendations. These are looked at, drafts are sent to the committee before the final ratings are published. There are always disagreements. You can’t have a perfect system but we try to keep it as transparent as possible. Of course we make mistakes, people can’t always agree, but we try to make it as fair as possible.”

Quote from Mauricio Sulaiman, head of WBC.

“We're biased towards Mexican fighters, what of it? My dad was disposed to support the Chavez family in all their endeavors and I fully intend to continue that.

We have a ranking system with 22 people around the world putting forward their views with us then disregarding everyones view and putting our favorites at the top of the list.

Listen, we're not interested in finding out who the best is, just who pays the highest sanctioning fees. In this case it was Chavez Jr"

Well that's pretty honest of him...

Was that on page  2 of the press release jabby 

Good, at least it isn't JdG.

TopHat24/7 wrote:Good, at least it isn't JdG.

Because this towns only big enough for one chunky?

Lol I just don't think he's really earnt it. Only lined up for his 'shot' because the WBC don't rank/recognise anyone ranked by any other belt. The flip side of this is they're also liable to run amok in the aforementioned fashion and just dump whoever they want as #1 contender anyway.

ShahenshahG wrote:

TopHat24/7 wrote:Good, at least it isn't JdG.

Because this "Supermarket's" only big enough for one chunky?

Fixed that for you mate

I hope Degale gets a shot. Chavez was always going to get first dibs on the WBC but hopefully Degale will get one later in the year.