If you've taken a look at the recent rankings published by the WBC you'll likely have spotted a few oddities though the most obvious one concerns former Light Welterweight title holder Amir "King" Khan (27-3, 19) who the WBC have shockingly placed at #2 in the Welterweight division.
Whilst Khan is a big name in the sport and a former WBA "super" and IBF champion at Light Welterweight his ranking here genuinely leaves a lot of question marks regarding the WBC ranking process.
First how has Khan gotten such a high ranking in a division he has never fought at before. The heaviest weight Khan has ever fought 140lbs (dead on the Light Welterweight limit), the highest weight any opponent Khan has ever weighed has been 140lbs (again, dead on the Light Welterweight limit). Had Khan weighed in or above 140 whilst fighting a guy in the low to mid 140's then a ranking (not as high as #2 admittedly) could at least be explained in that he had tested the water there, in a similar way to how Akira Yaegashi was ranked at Flyweight after his victory over Saenmuangloei Kokietgym.
Secondly Khan is now 1-2 in his last 3 bouts with his only win coming against Carlos Molina who himself is nowhere to be found anywhere on the WBC's rankings (which place 40 fighters per division). Molina isn't ranked at Lightweight, Light Wetlerweight or Welterweight (where ironically he has fought).
Whilst Khan's loss to Lamont Peterson is highly questioned (with Peterson having tested positive for a banned substance in the build up the a rematch) his 4th round TKO loss to Danny Garcia isn't up for question at all. In fact not only is Khan 1-2 in his last 3 bouts but he is without a notable win in over 18 months (since stopping Zab Judah in July 2011).
Whilst it's fair enough that the WBC don't rank champions from other organisations. They also don't rank (for various reasons) any of Manny Pacquiao (medical), Kell Brook, Mike Jones, Victor Ortiz (medical), Keith Thurman, Anton Novikov (legal) or Ruslan Provodnikov (amongst others). Which is part if the reason their rankings in the division are so bizarre, though it still doesn't excuse them for ranking Khan so highly.
Whilst Khan is a big name in the sport and a former WBA "super" and IBF champion at Light Welterweight his ranking here genuinely leaves a lot of question marks regarding the WBC ranking process.
First how has Khan gotten such a high ranking in a division he has never fought at before. The heaviest weight Khan has ever fought 140lbs (dead on the Light Welterweight limit), the highest weight any opponent Khan has ever weighed has been 140lbs (again, dead on the Light Welterweight limit). Had Khan weighed in or above 140 whilst fighting a guy in the low to mid 140's then a ranking (not as high as #2 admittedly) could at least be explained in that he had tested the water there, in a similar way to how Akira Yaegashi was ranked at Flyweight after his victory over Saenmuangloei Kokietgym.
Secondly Khan is now 1-2 in his last 3 bouts with his only win coming against Carlos Molina who himself is nowhere to be found anywhere on the WBC's rankings (which place 40 fighters per division). Molina isn't ranked at Lightweight, Light Wetlerweight or Welterweight (where ironically he has fought).
Whilst Khan's loss to Lamont Peterson is highly questioned (with Peterson having tested positive for a banned substance in the build up the a rematch) his 4th round TKO loss to Danny Garcia isn't up for question at all. In fact not only is Khan 1-2 in his last 3 bouts but he is without a notable win in over 18 months (since stopping Zab Judah in July 2011).
Whilst it's fair enough that the WBC don't rank champions from other organisations. They also don't rank (for various reasons) any of Manny Pacquiao (medical), Kell Brook, Mike Jones, Victor Ortiz (medical), Keith Thurman, Anton Novikov (legal) or Ruslan Provodnikov (amongst others). Which is part if the reason their rankings in the division are so bizarre, though it still doesn't excuse them for ranking Khan so highly.
RSS Feed