Marios Barrios has been elevated from WBC interim 147-lb champion to full champ in a predictable move by the sanctioning body.
The WBC recently downgraded champ Terence Crawford to ‘Champion in Recess’ tag after he chose to move up to 154 to fight for the belts in that weight class.
Once the WBC did that, it was only a matter of time before they elevated Barrios (29-2, 18 KOs) to the full champion at welterweight.
Barrios captured the WBC interim title with a twelve round unanimous decision last year in September, beating Yordenis Ugas. In Barrios’ first defense of his WBC interim strap, he defeated fringe contender Fabian Maidana by a 12 round decision last May.
This move by the World Boxing Council clears the path for WBC light welterweight champion Devin Haney to vacate his 140-lb title and use it to be made mandatory for Barrio’s belt.
That’s a logical move for Haney because if he stays at 140, he’ll be fighting for peanuts, making $1,524,600 for his defense against WBC mandatory Sandor Martin in the fall.
If Haney chooses to stay at 140 to defend against Martin, Barrios could defend his WBC title against 45-year-old Manny Pacquiao, who is reportedly interested in fighting for that belt.
That would be a big payday for the 29-year-old Barrios, giving Pacquiao a chance to capture another world title. It’s unclear what Pacquiao would do with the WBC title if he won the strap. Ryan Garcia might be Pacquiao’s best option for a massive payday.
Pacquiao wouldn’t deserve to fight for the WBC welterweight world title because he hasn’t fought in three years since 2021.
Fans on social media wonder when the WBA and WBO will get around to stripping Crawford of his welterweight titles with their organizations because he’s just sitting on them, not defending either, with no intention of returning to the division.
It hurts the sport when sanctioning bodies are slow in stripping champions when they move up in weight, as Crawford has done, or fighters holding interim belts. When they move up weight to pick up a little coin or if they have no plans on returning, they should be stripped.
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