WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman confirmed whether David Benavidez, who will face unified cruiserweight champion Gilberto Ramirez in May, will retain his 175-pound world title.
The sanctioning body has faced ponderous criticism after announcing that Shakur Stevenson will no longer hold the WBC lightweight title.
This news appeared shortly after the American’s message dominating points in his victory over Teofimo Lopez last monththanks to which he won the WBO 140-pound belt.
Before moving up in weight, Stevenson had floated the possibility of returning to 135 pounds, where he expected to maintain his world champion status after defeating Lopez.
However, Sulaiman explained that the 28-year-old’s managers never put a formal request in writing, which resulted in Stevenson losing his WBC title.
If such a request were accepted, Stevenson would be expected to pay the WBC $120,000, less than 3% of the sanction fee required for world title fights.
Still, many argued that the rule was unfair to champions, who still have to pay a significant fee when competing for a non-WBC title.
However, despite this reaction, WBC airy heavyweight champion Benavidez nevertheless made this kind of request to Sulaiman, allowing him to retain his green and gold belt while fighting for Ramirez’s WBO and WBA titles later this year.
I’m talking to Chris MannixSulaiman confirmed that this was the case.
“If you want to keep yours [WBC] title, there are detailed rules that have been in place for decades.
“Benavidez will fight in May as the WBC airy heavyweight champion and he is fighting [at] cruiserweight for another promotion.
“He filed a petition in [writing, to keep his WBC title]and it is exactly the same case under WBC rules.”
Given that Benavidez is following the rules, it seems unlikely that the WBC will change its directives any time soon, even though top fighters such as Stevenson and Terence Crawford have taken sturdy stances against them.
As for Benavidez, he has made it clear that his intention is to return to weight to face Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev. His WBC belt will be a key factor in negotiating these fights.