The WBC has changed course on its movements in the flyweight division.
BoxingScene has confirmed that the Mexico City-headquartered sanctioning body will order a 112lbs title consolidation bout between newly crowned champ Ricardo Sandoval and recently restored interim titlist Galal Yafai. The move was made just two weeks after the WBC called for an immediate rematch between England’s Yafai and Mexico’s Francisco Rodriguez.
WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman has confirmed to Ring Magazine’s Louis Hart that the order for a second Yafai-Rodriguez battle was since canceled. Attention will now shift towards leaving the sanctioning body with a single flyweight titleholder.
Sandoval recently dethroned Kenshiro Teraji in a well-earned decision victory on July 30 to claim the WBA and WBC flyweight titles in Yokohama, Japan. The win came less than a week after Yafai, 9-1 (7 KOs), was reinstated as WBC interim titlist and ordered to rematch Rodriguez, 40-6-1 (27 KOs).
Yafai – a 2020 Olympic gold medalist for Great Britain - previously lost his secondary belt to Rodriguez via a one-sided, unanimous decision on June 21 in his hometown of Birmingham, England. However, Rodriguez’s dominant victory on the road was since clouded in controversy after it was learned that he tested positive for the banned substance heptaminol.
A July 26 ruling by the WBC called for Rodriguez to be placed on probation for 12 months and for the belt to be returned to Yafai. The sanctioning body has chosen to nullify the outcome and recognize the bout – for their own records – as a No-Contest.
However, only the presiding commission has the authority to officially overturn the result. The matter is currently under review with the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) as Rodriguez remains under investigation to determine his culpability in the drug testing findings.
Because such matters in the UK tend to move at the speed of molasses, the 32-year-old Yafai will be forced to sport a loss on his official record for the time being – and presumably through his challenge of Sandoval, should the fight move forward.
An ordered Sandoval-Yafai fight will now place Golden Boy Promotions and Matchroom Boxing at the table together to work out a deal. WBC negotiation periods traditionally end with an immediately assigned purse bid date in the event that the two sides can’t come to terms.
Sandoval, 26, has won seven in a row since a heartbreaking July 2022 defeat to David Jimenez, which at the time cost him a shot at the WBA 112lbs title. An eleventh-round knockdown suffered by Sandoval was the difference in maintaining his place in line with a draw and the eventual majority decision verdict in favor of Jimenez.
Ironically, Jimenez not only never received a title shot but he continues to wait for one at 115lbs as well, despite having won an interim title and a final eliminator at that weight.
Meanwhile, Sandoval kept his head down and quickly punched his way back into contention. His patience and perseverance led to the opportunity of a lifetime as he hit the road to bump off one of the sport’s top fighters in Teraji, a two-division unified champion.
It remains to be seen what is left of Yafai, even if the BBBofC ultimately nullifies the result of his June 21 bout. Concerns were raised for his well-being as he absorbed extreme punishment in the later rounds. The timing of the ordered bout – and its 30-day deadline to reach an agreement – would presumably mean the fight will have to take place before year’s end.
