With Luis Nery having missed weight in his last fight and having his WBC bantamweight title stripped, the governing body has ordered its top two bantamweights to fight for the vacant world title.
On its official website, the WBC has ordered that Nordine Oubaali and Petch Sor Chitpattana will fight for the title, marking the first time either boxer would fight for a world title. The purse bid for the fight will take place on April 27 with both men getting 50 percent of the purse.
Oubaali, a two-time Olympic boxer representing France, turned pro in 2014 and has amassed a 14-0 record with 11 knockouts. Oubaali held the WBA Intercontinental and WBC Silver bantamweight titles and has won his lone fight of 2018, knocking out former world title challenger Luis Melendez.
Chitpattana, a 24-year-old boxer from Thailand, sports one of boxing's best win-loss records today at 46-0. Chitpattana won his first title in his sixth pro fight when he defeated Ma Daio to win the WBC Youth flyweight title. Chitpattana has also held the interim WBC Youth super flyweight and WBC Youth Silver bantamweight titles.
The title became vacant after Nery missed weight before he was set to defend his title against Shinsuke Yamanaka in a rematch from their 2017 fight. Although Nery defeated and retired Yamanaka earlier this year, the title remained vacant and Nery was taken off the WBC's official bantamweight rankings. Nery already was under fire from the WBC after Nery had failed a drug test before his 2017 fight against Yamanaka, but Nery was allowed to keep his title under the condition that he would fight Yamanaka in a rematch.
