NEW Mandatory defenses given out, Hopkins/Taylor winner must fight Wright!

The 43rd annual WBC convention closed today in La Linea. Mandatory defenses were decided on Thursday. Here's the lowdown... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Heavyweight: World champion Vitali Klitschko of Ukraine will make a mandatory defense against interim champion Hasim Rahman of the United States on November 12. The November 12 fight between No. 1 ranked Sinan Samil Sam of Turkey and No. 2 ranked Oleg Maskaev of Uzbekistan was approved as an eliminator for the No. 1 ranking, but not as a final eliminator to determine the official challenger. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cruiserweight: World champion Jean Marc Mormeck of France must next make his mandatory defense against No. 1 ranked official challenger Guillermo Jones of Panama.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Light heavyweight: World champion Thomas Adamek of Poland will make his mandatory defense against No. 1 ranked official challenger Thomas Ulrich of Germany on October 15. The winner can make one voluntary defense, and the winner of that fight must next fight No. 2 ranked Paul Briggs of Australia. A fight between No. 3 ranked Pietro Aurino of Italy and No. 4 ranked Stipe Drews of Croatia was approved as an eliminator. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Super middleweight: World champion Markus Beyer of Germany is in a voluntary period. Raul Jaimes of Golden Boy Promotions suggested a tournament between the four highest available challengers, with the winner to become the official challenger. The Board of Governors approved the tournament. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Middleweight: The winner of the December 3 fight between world champion Jermain Taylor of the United States and No. 2 ranked Bernard Hopkins of the United States must next fight No. 1 ranked Ronald “Winky” Wright of the United States, who won an eliminator.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Super welterweight: World champion Ricardo Mayorga of Nicaragua will make his mandatory defense against No. 1 ranked Oscar De La Hoya of the United States next year.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Welterweight: World champion Zab Judah of the United States is in negotiations to fight No. 1 ranked Carlos Baldomir of Argentina, who has won two eliminators.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Super lightweight: World champion Floyd Mayweather of the United States is in a voluntary period. The fight between No. 1 ranked Junior Witter of England and No. 3 ranked Gianluca Branco of Italy was approved as a final eliminator. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lightweight: The winner of the fight between world champion Diego Corrales of the United States and No. 1 ranked Jose Luis Castillo of Mexico was approved for a voluntary defense in December, then must fight No. 2 ranked Sirimongkol Singwancha of Thailand.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Super featherweight: world champion Marco Antonio Barrera of Mexico is in a voluntary period. The fight between No. 1 ranked Erik Morales of Mexico and No. 2 ranked Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines was approved as a final eliminator.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Featherweight: World champion Injin Chi of Korea and interim champion Humberto Soto of Mexico were both approved for voluntary defenses. The winners of the two fights must fight for the undisputed WBC title by April. The fight between No. 1 ranked Nicky Cook of England and No. 2 ranked Robert Guerrero of the United States was approved as a final eliminator. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Super bantamweight: World champion Oscar Larios of Mexico is in a voluntary period. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bantamweight: World champion Hozumi Hasegawa of Japan must fight No. 1 ranked Diego Morales of Mexico if Morales is medically approved. If not, Hasegawa must fight No. 2 ranked Veeraphol Nakhonluang of Thailand. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Super flyweight: World champion Masamori Tokuyama of Japan has reached an agreement to fight No. 1 ranked Jose Navarro of the United States in January. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Flyweight: World champion Pongasklek Wonjongkam of Thailand must next fight No. 1 ranked official challenger Rosendo Alvarez of Nicaragua. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Light flyweight: world champion Brian Viloria of the United States must next fight No. 1 ranked official challenger Juanito Rubillar of the Philippines. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Strawweight: World champion Eagle Kyowa of Japan will make a voluntary defense against Masaki Nakanuma on January 3. No. 1 ranked Rodel Mayol of the Philippines and No. 2 Lorenzo Trejo of Mexico have reached an agreement to fight in an eliminator. Friday, October 7 2005