WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman has explained his reasoning to WBN behind heavyweight Anthony Joshua currently sitting at number two in the world rankings.
Olympic gold medallist Joshua, 25, has knocked out all of his opponents within three rounds, although is still learning his trade. He could be over a year away from fighting for an inevitable world title, according to his promoter Eddie Hearn.
That basis has led some to question why the Londoner should be so high in the WBC ratings. Placed above many seasoned fighters and ex-champions, something Sulaiman was asked to outline when speaking to WBN over the weekend.
“The problem lately in boxing is that they put the fighters out, rush them out too quick. That is not good for a fighter as he needs to go through a process,” Sulaiman told World Boxing News.
“Joshua’s ranking has to do with his activity. But also the fact that several fighters were ahead of him. They either lost or went to fight for another organization title. Joshua has been coming up very quickly recently because of that.
“You had Jennings (lost to Klitschko), Tyson Fury (fighting for other titles) and others. So we have to look for other names because they were on top.
“They either lost or went somewhere else which means other fighters will move.
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“The WBC rankings are exclusively to fight for the WBC title. So if you go off and fight for another organization title then you are not included in the rankings because you are not available to fight for the WBC title.
“This is why Joshua is so high. But he is a tremendous prospect,” he added.
Joshua is due to fight on September 12, possibly against Gary Cornish for either the British or Commonwealth heavyweight title – maybe even both.
He will then setting off on his quest to face a world champion towards the back end of 2016.
