After a disastrous showing against Vasyl Lomachenko, the consequences continue for Guillermo Rigondeaux with the news of the WBA stripping him of his super bantamweight world title.
The governing body released its latest rankings and no longer has Rigondeaux listed as its champion or even on the rankings, following through with the organization's promise that he would be stripped of the title if he were to lose to Lomachenko. The WBA has now elevated Daniel Roman, previously the WBA "regular" champion, to lone world champion.
Rigondeaux's issue with the WBA stemmed from the champion opting to move up two weights to fight Lomachenko, the WBO super featherweight champion, on December 9 on ESPN. Before taking the fight with Lomachenko, Rigondeaux had been ordered to fight interim champion Moises Flores in a rematch because their first match ended in a no contest. The WBA then stated that if Rigondeaux were to beat Lomachenko and win the WBO title, then he would have only five days to decide which title defend, but if he were to lose, then the WBA would strip him of the title.
With Rigondeaux's title being stripped, the organization continues to follow through on its promise to cut down on the number of world champions per weight class. Since the WBA announced in 2016 that they would cut down on the ludicrously high number of titleholders (42 world champions on January 2016), the organization has ended 2017 with 25 world champions in boxing's 17 divisions. Rigondeaux's title being stripped means the WBA now has 24 champions.
Rigondeaux won the WBA interim title in 2010, followed by him winning the "regular" champion in 2012. After two title defenses of his "regular" title, Rigondeaux was upgraded to "super" champion and has retained his title in five fights before the fight against Flores. Rigondeaux barely put up a fight against Lomachenko, landing just 15 punches in six rounds before opting to quit the fight.
Roman will now defend his WBA title on February 28 when he travels to Japan to fight Ryo Matsumoto. It is Roman's first title defense since beating Shun Kubo last September in Japan.