Katie Taylor is no longer the undisputed super lightweight champion.
(Al Bello via Getty Images)
The WBC made a pair of important announcements Wednesday at its weekly Martes De Café meeting.
Katie Taylor, the now-former undisputed super lightweight champion and Uncrowned’s No. 1 pound-for-pound women’s boxer, has been relieved of her WBC world title after informing the WBC that she will not be able to fulfill its mandatory order to face interim champion Chantelle Cameron because she is planning to take some time away from the sport. Taylor has now been tagged as a champion in recess, which allows her to challenge for the WBC super lightweight world title when she returns to boxing.
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The WBC also ordered Cameron to face Sandy Ryan in an all-British clash to rectify the title situation at 140 pounds. Ryan, a former welterweight champion, is ranked No. 3 in the WBC at welterweight and would move down in weight for the fight.
Ryan, who returned to winning ways with a unanimous decision over Jade Grierson earlier this month after suffering back-to-back defeats at the hands of Mikaela Mayer, shares a manager and a promoter with Taylor — Brian Peters and Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing, respectively — so the move was likely tactical. Cameron was last in action on the undercard of the Netflix-broadcasted Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano 3 card in July, where she retained her belt on the prelims by beating Jessica Camara.
The WBC also ordered an immediate rematch between Christian Mbilli and Lester Martinez for Mbilli’s WBC interim super middleweight title, following a successful request from Martinez’s team for a second meeting.
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Mbilli, a Cameroonian-Frenchman now based in Quebec, retained his interim championship with a split draw in a Fight of the Year candidate against the Guatemalan Martinez on this past Saturday’s Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford undercard in Las Vegas.
Crawford is the full WBC super middleweight champion and is unlikely to face either Mbilli or Martinez, the latter of whom he shares a trainer with, Brian McIntyre.
Mbilli is promoted by Bob Arum’s Top Rank and Martinez has built his career on ProBoxTV shows, although their fight was made by Turki Alalshikh and promoted by Dana White’s Zuffa Boxing.
Mbilli and Martinez will have a 30-day free negotiation period before purse bids are called.
