The World Boxing Council is having their 56th Convention this week in Kiev, Ukraine. On Wednesday, the WBC announced a list of mandatory bouts for their world champions. This, of course, included one for the Featherweight champion, the Beltway's own "Mr." Gary Russell, Jr. and that one turned out to be most interesting and, if and when it happens, could be very beneficial for the sport.
You see, Russell of Capitol Heights, MD (29-1, 17 KO's) has already fought his mandatory, defeating Joseph Diaz by 12-round unanimous decision on May 19th at the MGM National Harbor Casino in Oxon Hill, MD. So right now, Russell has no actual mandatory challenger. In the WBC, that is (right now, the WBC's number one challenger is Mark Magsayo of the Philippines (18-0, 13 KO's). The WBC is therefore, taking an unusual move by ordering Russell to battle the WBA champion, Leo Santa Cruz of Rosemead, CA (35-1-1, 19 KO's). While Cruz is also the WBC Diamond Featherweight champion, the WBC can't force another federation's titleholder to compete in a unification bout.
However, putting this bout together may not be much of a problem. Both champs say the want the bout and it is on the agenda of both Premier Boxing Champions and Showtime. There was even a rumor that the bout was going to be on the Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury card in Los Angeles on December 1. This would be a great bout to kick off 2019.
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