Ready or not, the bridgerweight division is officially a part of modern-day boxing culture.
The first set of rankings for the new weight class was rolled out by the World Boxing Council (WBC) during its monthly ratings update on Tuesday. Veteran contenders Oscar Rivas, Bryant Jennings and Dmitry Kudryashov are among the most identifiable names gracing the inaugural set, which for now will remained limited to a Top 20 until the division gains traction.
“We’re doing 20 fighters ratings instead of the 40 that we have in each division, but we will see for the future,” Mauricio Sulaiman, president of the WBC revealed to BoxingScene.com of the smaller than normal list as compared to boxing’s other 17 weight divisions. “Rankings are [based on] merit and quality and that’s something that will never change.”
The maximum weight for the division will be 224 pounds, although it won’t affect the heavyweight division which will still permit participants from 201 pounds and heavier.
The inclusion of Rivas is a curious choice, particularly as the number-one contender. The 33-year old contender—who represented Colombia in the 2008 Beijing Olympics before relocating to Montreal—has not weighed 224 pounds or lighter since his second pro fight, when he was 223 pounds for a four-round decision win over Stephane Tessier in October 2009. Rivas weighed 225 ¼ pounds for his next fight just one month later and has not weighed any lighter than 228 ¼ pounds in the past decade.
Rivas weighed 239 ¼ pounds for his most recent start, a hard-fought 12-round defeat to England’s Dillian Whyte, who weighed 259 pounds for their controversial clash last July in London.
The weight disparity has served as a growing concern for much of the past 30 years, although almost reverting back to talent overruling size when it has mattered the most. Still, it gained enough traction for legendary matchmaker and boxing historian Don Majeski to continually explore the possibility of creating an 18th weight division.
One crucial element—other than the maximum weight, which was agreed upon relatively quickly—was discovering the right name. Majeski and others were adamant in avoiding any names which suggested a lesser version of the heavyweight division, pointing out the cruiserweight’s longtime classification as “Jr. Heavyweight” all but killed any momentum to have been gained for a division which has produced more than its fair share of epic fights in its 40-year history.
With that came the decision to name the division after a recent hero. Bridger Walker, a six-year old boy from Wyoming gained worldwide praise for his act pf heroism in rescuing his four-year old sister from being attacked by a one-year old German shepherd this past July.
Walker was then attacked by the dog, who latched onto the boy’s cheek leaving a deep scar which required more than 90 stitches during a two-hour emergency surgery. Walker said—in a statement released by the family—of his decision to rescue his sister: “If someone had to die, I thought it should be me.”
The incident drew rave reviews, including Academy Award-winning actress Anne Hathaway who praised the child in an Instagram post which generated more than one million likes.
It also drew the attention of the WBC, who chose to name its newest weight division after the young hero.
As outlined during the WBC annual convention earlier this summer, Majeski pointed to no fewer than 15 heavyweights among the Mexico City-based organization’s Top 40 who have consistently weighed 225 pounds or lighter throughout their career. Among them were former heavyweight titlist Deontay Wilder (42-1-1, 41KOs) and unbeaten former World cruiserweight king Oleksandr Usyk (18-0, 13KOs), who now campaigns in boxing’s most storied division.
However, moving forward with such a weight class requires the cooperation of all invested parties. With that comes the promise of the WBC only ranking boxers who both qualify on merit and size and express a dedicated participatory interest.
“Usyk is one of the best cruiserweights in boxing history,” Sulaiman noted to BoxingScene.com. “We have now seen him fight twice at heavyweight, including his fantastic win over Derek Chisora (in October). Usyk is now looking at an opportunity to challenge (unified WBA/IBF/WBO/IBO heavyweight titlist) Anthony Joshua, which will generate a lot of money. Usyk is the (WBO) mandatory challenger, and we at the WBC most certainly respect his decision to pursue and reach that goal of winning the heavyweight title under those conditions.
“Deontay Wilder has his mind made up to pursue (a third fight) with our WBC world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury. So, even though Deontay Wilder and Oleksandr Usyk can both fight at bridgerweight, we don’t see them making any such plans at this time (and therefore won’t be ranked).”
With that explanation comes the decision to include fighters such as Rivas and Jennings, whose teams have indicated their fighters’ willingness to at least entertain the idea.
The rest of the division is comprised of cruiserweight contenders, most of whom figure to be in need of a new home with the WBC’s next idea. For now, the bridgerweight division overlaps cruiserweight (maximum (200 pounds) and heavyweight, although there are plans in place for the WBC to restore cruiserweight to its old maximum limit of 190 pounds “within the next six months to one year.”
Reigning WBC cruiserweight Ilunga ‘Junior’ Makabu (27-2, 24KOs) is set to defend his title for the first time versus Olanrewaju Durodola (34-7) on December 19 in Kinshasa, Republic of Congo. The bout could likely represent the last-ever cruiserweight title fight to take place at 200 pounds, although Makabu has already indicated a willingness to campaign at the modified weight of 190 pounds in retaining the title.
Conversely, anyone ranked at bridgerweight is still afforded the freedom of competing at heavyweight.
Neither the new weight class or any such plans to modify the cruiserweight limit has yet to be adopted or even entertained by any other sanctioning body. Additionally, the idea of another weight division has been largely met with criticism and scorn from an industry historically resistant to change of any kind.
As much was expected by the WBC from conception through execution.
“Resistance to change is human nature,” points out Sulaiman, whose organization remains an industry leader in fighter safety. “Every change goes through a process and eventually is accepted and proven to have been the right course of action.”
Time will tell if it plays out that way. For now, the hope from the WBC is that the idea is embraced as one with the best of intentions.
“As long as changes are implemented for the right reason—which in boxing is safety and growth—those will have a positive impact in our sport,” Sulaiman believes.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
