Serhii Bohachuk has successfully appealed to the WBC to reinstate him as its No. 1 junior middleweight, the sanctioning body announced on August 25.
Bohachuk, 26-2 (24 KOs), had been ranked first since January, moving up from No. 2 after the WBC dropped Errol Spence from its rankings. And before being No. 2, Bohachuk had held the WBC interim titleholder at 154lbs, a belt he narrowly lost to Vergil Ortiz Jnr in August 2024.
But earlier this month, the WBC installed Jaron “Boots” Ennis at No. 1 even though the rising unified welterweight titleholder had not yet fought at junior middleweight. That put Ennis ahead of Bohachuk in line for potential shots at Ortiz or primary titleholder Sebastian Fundora.
And so Bohachuk’s promoter, Tom Loeffler, appealed to the WBC, something sanctioning bodies are required to review under the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act.
“A boxer’s rating is based on a subjective determination of his relative merits compared to other contenders in the division at the time, as determined by a majority vote of the WBC Ratings Committee. While the WBC has complied with its own rules and applicable legal requirements, it is reported that the WBC Ratings Appeals Committee, in addition to the WBC Ratings Committee itself, has reviewed this appeal and granted the requested motion, consisting of an order to reinstate Mr. Bohachuk to the top spot,” the WBC wrote.
Bohachuk is scheduled for a rematch with Brandon Adams – the first fighter to beat him – on the September 13 preliminary undercard of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford. The prelim fights will stream on Tudum.com, the TKO YouTube page and the WWE YouTube page.
Ennis, 34-0 (30 KOs), will make his debut at 154lbs when he meets Uisma Lima on October 11 on DAZN.
Ortiz, 23-0 (21 KOs), is scheduled to face Erickson Lubin on November 8 on DAZN.
Fundora, 23-1-1 (15 KOs), is coming off a dominant rematch win over Tim Tszyu in July and is expected to face Keith Thurman this October.
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
