If Andy Ruiz Jr. can’t get a rubber match against Anthony Joshua for the WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight titles, he can at least know that he will have the ability to challenge for the WBC title.
The WBC ranked Ruiz, who shocked the world in June when he stopped Joshua to win the unified heavyweight titles, No. 7 in its rankings. By being ranked in the top 15, Ruiz will be eligible to fight for the title currently being held by Deontay Wilder.
A fight between Wilder and Ruiz is possible given that both fighters fight under the PBC umbrella and Wilder has been open to that potential matchup. But that fight won’t happen until midway through 2020 at the earliest given that Wilder will defend his title against Tyson Fury next February, but that has yet to be formally announced.
Should Wilder retain the title against Fury, he will most likely have the ability to make a voluntary defense against anyone in the top 15 before being ordered to fight interim WBC titleholder Dillian Whyte in 2021.
Below are the current WBC heavyweight rankings:
- Dillian Whyte
- Tyson Fury
- Oleksandr Usyk
- Oscar Rivas
- Luis Ortiz
- Alexander Povetkin
- Andy Ruiz Jr.
- Adam Kownacki
- Joseph Parker
- Filip Hrgovic
- Joe Joyce
- Michael Hunter
- Dereck Chisora
- Kubrat Pulev
- Agit Kabayel
Fightful did a post-show podcast reviewing Joshua's win over Ruiz from December 7 and can be seen at this link.
