By Jake Donovan

The World Boxing Association (WBA) has come under fire for its creating of multiple champions per weight class. It remains a problem to this day in many weight divisions, but progress begins with a single step.

For the WBA, that first step is a big one, starting at the top (physically speaking) with the heavyweight division.

Gilberto Mendoza, the longtime president of the South America-based sanctioning body has announced a tournament of sorts. All matchups have been based on fights already scheduled or presently in the works, which provides greater optimism for its full execution than figures to be the case with the recent proposal from the World Boxing Council in the welterweight and super welterweight divisions.

The tournament involves seven fighters, though have nothing to do with seeding as is the case in a traditional bracket.

First up is a March 5 showdown between WBA ‘regular’ titlist Ruslan Chagaev and unbeaten mandatory challenger Lucas Browne. The winner of that fight has already been ordered to face Fres Oquendo, who previously dropped a hotly contested decision to Chagaev in July ’14.

Oquendo has since successfully sued to enforce a contractually obligated rematch as well as the balance of what he was owed from their aforementioned fight. Sanctioning bodies normally don’t honor rematch clauses unless it’s in direct lines with its rankings, but the WBA included Oquendo in the field as it works best for the flow of the tournament.

On the other side of the bracket are two fights presently in the negotiation stage. World heavyweight king Tyson Fury – who also owns the WBA Super, IBO and World Boxing Organization (WBO) titles – is in talks for a rematch with Wladimir Klitschko, whom he dethroned last November. Their sequel is due to take place in the second quarter of 2016, likely either in Fury’s homeland of England or back in Germany, where the first fight was staged.

Awaiting the victor is whomever comes out ahead in the ordered interim title fight between unbeaten titlist Luis Ortiz and his mandatory challenger, Alexander Ustinov.

Ortiz (24-0, 21KOs) claimed the interim title in a 3rd round knockout of Argentina’s Matias Vidondo in October, before a breakout performance in the form of a 7th round drilling of Bryant Jennings last December on HBO. Ustinov (33-1, 24KOs), a 39-year old Russia-born heavyweight now fighting out of Belarus has won six straight since a Sept. ’12 knockout loss to Kubrat Pulev.

The winners of both sides of the brackets will ultimately face each other to give the WBA a single heavyweight champion. Whether or not things go back to “normal” afterward (re-issuing regular and interim titles) remains to be seen, but for now the WBA deserves credit – and benefit of the doubt – in showing signs of cleaning up the mess it previously created.

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox