Agit Kabayel at heavyweight, Serhii Bohachuk at 154, Devin Haney at 147, Andy Cruz at 135

The WBC’s latest ratings update – released February 8 – includes the installation of four new No. 1 contenders.

At heavyweight: Tyson Fury’s rematch loss to Oleksandr Usyk and subsequent retirement announcement – whether true or not – nevertheless led to Fury being dropped altogether from the rankings of all four major sanctioning bodies. This led to Agit Kabayel being promoted from No. 2 to No. 1.

That won’t last long, though, as Kabayel is due to face Zhilei Zhang (now ranked No. 2) for the WBC interim heavyweight title.

The winner of that fight will be in mandatory position to challenge Usyk.

At junior middleweight: Errol Spence has been removed from the WBC’s rankings, gone from the No. 1 spot he’d been given despite not having fought at 154lbs since 2015, not having fought at all since 2023, and the fact that last appearance saw Spence get demolished by Terence Crawford.

Spence’s removal allowed Serhii Bohachuk to move up from No. 2 to No. 1. However, that doesn’t mean Bohachuk is the mandatory challenger for the world title held by Sebastian Fundora (who also has the WBO belt). Instead, it is Vergil Ortiz Jnr – who seized the WBC interim title from Bohachuk in a close win last August – who is in line for a shot.

At welterweight: Speaking of fighters who don’t deserve their positions, Devin Haney has been inserted into the No. 1 slot in this weight class despite never before having fought at welterweight. He was previously the WBC’s junior welterweight titleholder and then became the “champion in recess” at 140lbs, a designation Haney has now discarded with this insertion at 147.

Haney bumped the previous No. 1, Souleymane Cissokho, down to No. 2.

At lightweight: Lots of movement here due to fights being made for other sanctioning bodies’ titles – and those fighters being removed as a result. 

Gone are Raymond Muratalla (previously No. 1) and Zaur Abdullaev (previously No. 5), who have been ordered to fight for the interim IBF title.

Also gone is Keyshawn Davis (previously No. 2), who will challenge WBO titleholder Denys Berinchyk on February 14.

Isaac Cruz (previously No. 3) is now ranked at junior welterweight, which makes sense as he hasn’t competed at lightweight since July 2023.

One would think Tevin Farmer would therefore be moved from No. 4 up to No. 1. That’s not the case. Farmer is now at No. 2, and the previous sixth-ranked fighter, Andy Cruz, is up in the top spot.

Cruz isn’t the mandatory challenger for WBC titleholder Shakur Stevenson, however. That position belongs to WBC interim titleholder William Zepeda.

The WBC’s titleholders and No. 1 contenders in each weight class are:

Heavyweight: Oleksandr Usyk has the WBA, WBC and WBO world titles; Agit Kabayel is the WBC’s No. 1 contender. Kabayel is due to face Zhilei Zhang on February 22 for the WBC interim heavyweight title.

Bridgerweight: Kevin Lerena has the world title; Adam Balski is his No. 1 contender.

Cruiserweight: Badou Jack has the world title; Ryan Rozicki is his No. 1 contender; Noel Mikaelyan is the champion-in-recess. Jack vs. Rozicki could take place this April.

Light heavyweight: Artur Beterbiev has all four world titles; David Benavidez is the WBC’s interim titleholder as well as the WBA’s secondary “regular” titleholder; Dmitry Bivol is the WBC’s No. 1 contender (ditto for the WBA and WBO). The rematch between Beterbiev and Bivol is scheduled for February 22.

Super middleweight: Saul “Canelo” Alvarez has the world title; Christian Mbilli is his No. 1 contender.

Middleweight: Carlos Adames has the world title; Hamzah Sheeraz is his No. 1 contender. Adames vs. Sheeraz is scheduled for February 22 on the undercard of Beterbiev-Bivol II.

Junior middleweight: Sebastian Fundora has the WBC and WBO world titles; Vergil Ortiz is the WBC interim titleholder; Serhii Bohachuk is the No. 1 contender.

Welterweight: Mario Barrios has the world title; Devin Haney is his No. 1 contender.

Junior welterweight: Alberto Puello has the world title; Sandor Martin is his No. 1 contender;  Puello-Martin is scheduled for the March 1 undercard of Gervonta Davis vs. Lamont Roach.

Lightweight: Shakur Stevenson has the world title; William Zepeda is the interim titleholder; Andy Cruz is the No. 1 contender.

Junior lightweight: O’Shaquie Foster has the world title; Eduardo “Rocky” Hernandez is his No. 1 contender. 

Featherweight: Stephen Fulton has the world title; Bruce Carrington is his No. 1 contender; Rey Vargas is the champion-in-recess.

Junior featherweight: Naoya Inoue has all four world titles; Alan David Picasso is the WBC’s No. 1 contender.

Bantamweight: Junto Nakatani has the world title; Juan Francisco Estrada is his No. 1 contender.

Junior bantamweight: Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez has the world title; Roman Gonzalez is the No. 1 contender. 

Flyweight: Kenshiro Teraji has the world title; Galal Yafai is the interim titleholder; Francisco Rodriguez Jnr is the No. 1 contender.

Junior flyweight: Panya Pradabsri has the world title; Carlos Canizales, who lost a highly controversial decision to Pradabsri in a December fight for the vacant belt, is the No. 1 contender.

Minimumweight: Melvin Jerusalem has the world title; Yudai Shigeoka is his No. 1 contender.