Pound for pound king Mayweather retired from boxing last September following a standout reign as champion at both welterweight and super welterweight, but now leaves behind two voids that the WBC need to fill.
President Mauricio Sulaiman, along with the top brass at the WBC, recently decided that the best way to crown new title holders is to stage competitions between those currently ranked highly at 147 and 154 pounds – in a bid to eventually find two champions at each weight.
At welterweight, the top name to be included looks to be Amir Khan, who holds the silver belt, although the Briton will firstly be keeping his options open as he chases a super-fight with Filipino great Manny Pacquiao. Barring a clash with Pacquiao, which is unlikely to be included in the series due to the imminent retirement of the ‘Pacman’, Khan should be the first name in the hat, alongside the likes of Danny Garcia, Shawn Porter, Robert Guerrero and Errol Spence Jr.
Obviously, the tournament participants hinge on the acceptance of the fighter’s representatives and that could be a problem for those who have Al Haymon looking after their affairs. Should Haymon decide against his boxers taking part, the likes of Jessie Vargas, Alfonso Gomez and Sadam Ali could then be called up in their place.
At 154, Charles Hatley almost certainly punched his way into a place in the competition with his midweek victory over Anthony Mundine, whilst Jermell Charlo, John Jackson, Demetrius Andrade and Austin Trout can expect first refusal from the WBC.
Back-ups would then see ranked contenders Julian Williams, Ishe Smith, Joshua Clottey and Matthew Macklin have an outside chance of taking their place in the coveted tourney and lay claim to fighting for the world famous green belt.
A lot more is set to be revealed by the WBC in the coming days and weeks following what were said to be successful discussions at the 53rd Convention in Kunming, China.
