WBC super featherweight champion Miguel Berchelt will be allowed another voluntary title defense before having to face Miguel Roman.
The governing body announced Berchelt will defend his world title in a voluntary defense on June 23, leaving Roman to wait even longer before getting his chance to fight for the world title.
Roman won his way to being the mandatory challenger last year with a win over Orlando Salido. The fight was originally going to be for the interim WBC title and headline an HBO boxing telecast, but a last second decision from the network to change the fight and make it a 10-round bout instead of a 12-round bout forced the WBC to pull its interim title from the fight. Roman won the fight against Salido which prompted the WBC to eventually rule in favor of naming Roman the mandatory challenger.
In the meantime, Berchelt was granted an exception from the WBC to make a voluntary title defense on February 3 when he knocked out Maxwell Awuku in the third round in Cancun, Mexico. Berchelt's upcoming title defense does not have a venue nor an opponent. Berchelt has held the WBC world title since defeating Francisco Vargas in January 2017.
Roman has kept himself busy since the win over Salido. He fought on February 10, knocking Aristides Perez to win the WBC FECARBOX super featherweight title. Despite sporting an impressive 59-12 record, Roman has never held a world title.
