WBC mandatories decided!
 By Boxing Bob Newman(Fightnews.com)
Mandatory defenses were the long awaited order of Day 4 at the WBC convention. Discussions were had concerning everything from purse bid dates to mandatory periods and a myriad of other related topics. The following is an attempt to present a semi-clear view of what transpired...

Super Feather: Vacant
Interim champ Humberto Soto has not paid his sanctioning fees from his last fight with Francisco Lorenzo. The WBC will insist that those fees be paid within fifteen days otherwise Soto will be stripped. In the meantime, #1 Urbano Antilon will meet #3 Thong Por Chokchai for the first mandatory position and #4 Rocky Juarez will meet #5 Humberto Mauro Gutierrez for the second mandatory.

Light:
Manny Pacquiao must first pay his past due $30,000 sanctioning fee from his title winning effort against David Diaz withing fifteen days from now. Secondly, he is required by WBC rules as a reigning champion fighting above the weight, to pay a 1% fee from the purse for his upcoming fight with Oscar DeLaHoya on December 6, 2008. If he fails to pay the $30,000 fee first and on time, he will be stripped. In the meantime, #1 Edwin Valero and #2 Antonio Pitalua will clash for the interim title.

Super Light:
Champion Timothy Bradley has a mandatory defense due May 10, 2009. Don King wants his charge Devon Alexander to be the next challenger for Bradley. Gary Shaw and Alex Camponovo want their charge Bradley to have a voluntary defense against the winner of the December clash for the WBO belt between Ricardo Torres and Kendall Holt. The WBC does not want that fight to be for the WBO belt, only for the WBC belt and only if the winner agree to fight the mandatory WBC challenger, be it Alexander, the winner of #2 Junior Witter and #3 Ajose Olusegun eliminator or an eliminator between #1 Alexander and #2 Witter.


Middle:
Kelly Pavlik has also not paid his past sanctioning fees from both the optional defense against Gary Lockett and the catchweight fight versus Bernard Hopkins. The 15 day deadline will apply for Pavlik to pay, lest he be stripped of his title. His mandatory is Marco Antonio Rubio.


Heavy:
Vitali Klitschko recently regained the title he never lost in the ring by vanquishing reigning champion Samuel Peter. As a condition of the negotiations that went into making that fight, Klitschko was not given the option of a voluntary defense in the event that he won. Current mandatory #1 contender Juan Carlos Gomez has won two elimination matches (against Oliver McCall and Vladimir Virchis) and has been awaiting his chance patiently to challenge for the WBC heavyweight title, regardless of who held it. The WBC unanimously voted to grant Gomez his title fight immediately against Klitschko. No requests for a voluntary defense will be granted. As Champion Emeritus, Klitschko was granted a special privilege to try and regain his crown and now the WBC wants to follow its own rules and not keep the mandatory challengers waiting any longer.