The WBC has clarified the status of the middleweight division. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. won the WBC World Middleweight Championship as a mandatory challenger by defeating former champion Sebastian Zbik by unanimous decision this past June 4, 2011 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. It is anticipated that Chavez Jr. and WBC Emeritus and Diamond titleholder Sergio Martinez will meet in the first quarter of 2012.
Marco Antonio Rubio is the mandatory challenger of the division, and his time for the challenge, as stipulated in the WBC Rules and Regulations, is scheduled to be within one year after the last mandatory fight in the division, which was Zbik vs. Chavez.
