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Mike CoppingerESPN
Russian and Belarusian boxers will be removed from the WBC rankings and therefore won’t be eligible to fight for any of the organization’s titles because of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman announced on Tuesday during the sanctioning body’s convention in Acapulco, Mexico.
The measure will last until boxing returns to war-torn Ukraine, a country that has been defending itself from Russian attacks since February, according to Sulaiman.
“We had had provisional decisions since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February of this year,” Sulaiman said. “What we had decided as an organization is confirmed, and we add one more clause: No fight that takes place in those two countries [Russia and Belarus] will be accepted.”
The most notable active fighter who resides in Russia is Dmitry Bivol, who lives in St. Petersburg. Bivol isn’t rated by the WBC because he holds the WBA’s light heavyweight title, a belt he retained Saturday with a decisive victory over Gilberto Ramirez.
Another recognizable boxer from Russia, Artur Beterbiev, has called Montreal home for years and is unaffected by the WBC’s resolution (the organization lists his nationality as Canadian.) He holds the WBC’s light heavyweight title — along with the WBO and IBF belts — and will defend the unified 175-pound championship vs. Anthony Yarde on Jan. 28 in London. The WBC named former super middleweight champion Callum Smith the mandatory challenger to Beterbiev but said it would allow him to fight Bivol for the undisputed championship first if a deal can be struck, despite the resolution regarding Russian boxers.
Russian boxers who are ranked in the WBC’s top 10 include former 175-pound champion Sergey Kovalev (No. 4 at cruiserweight, who resides in Southern California); Alexander Besputin (No. 9 at welterweight); David Avanesyan, who challenges Terence Crawford for the WBO welterweight title on Dec. 10, though he’s listed as Armenian by the WBC alongside his No. 4 ranking); Zaur Abdullaev, the WBC’s No. 5 lightweight; and Magomed Kurbanov, the WBC’s No. 6 junior middleweight.
The WBC resolution follows an edict from the WBA earlier this year that banned the Russian national anthem at fights. When Bivol successfully defended his WBA title vs. Canelo Alvarez in May, the anthem wasn’t played and he was announced as fighting out of Indio, California, where he trains.
“Boxing in Ukraine is totally stopped by Russia’s attacks,” Sulaiman said. “All gyms and sports facilities have been destroyed; Ukrainian boxing cannot be active. Life does not go on in Ukraine and until there is a reestablishment of Ukrainian boxing, there will be no reestablishment of Russian boxing for the WBC.”
Ukraine is home to unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk, who defeated Anthony Joshua in an August rematch, as well as former three-division champion Vasiliy Lomachenko. Both fighters joined territorial defense battalions earlier this year. Former champion Viktor Postol, who also resides in Ukraine, was defeated by Gary Antonio Russell earlier this year. Hall of Fame boxer Vitali Klitschko is the mayor of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv. His younger brother, Wladimir, a fellow former heavyweight champion (and Hall of Famer) has also been outspoken during the war.
The WBC opened an office in Ukraine in August 2021 to identify and help young fighters with the transition from amateur boxing to the professional ranks.
ESPN Deportes’ Salvador Rodriguez contributed to this report.