Several boxers are going to miss out on being eligible for a world title opportunity for a while.
The WBC has removed a number of fighters from their official rankings due to their failure to enroll in the WBC Clean Boxing Program (CBP). The Clean Boxing Program is the organization's way of combating anti-doping within the sport and any boxer that is ranked in the top 15 have within three months to enroll in the CBP and submit to drug testing by VADA.
Below are the list of boxers that the WBC has removed from their rankings. Next to their names are the rankings they were previously at before the announcement was issued:
Light Heavyweight:
- No. 10 Umar Salamov
Super Middleweight:
- No. 5 James DeGale
- No. 13 Tyron Zeuge
Middleweight:
- No. 14 Mark Heffron
Super Featherweight:
- No. 8 Ricardo Núñez
- No. 12 Pablo Vicente
Featherweight:
- No. 6 Satoshi Shimizu
Super Bantamweight:
- No. 10 Thomas Patrick Ward
Super Flyweight:
- No. 13 Alejandro Santiago
Flyweight:
- No. 7 Sho Kimura
With those boxers being taken out of the rankings, they are not eligible to challenge for the WBC world title, but can return to the rankings the following month by enrolling in the program.
Former world champion Kell Brook was previously taken out of the rankings for the same reason, but immediately enrolled in the CBP and was placed back and is now ranked No. 2 at 154 pounds. Earlier this year, the WBC released a list of boxers who at one point was revealed to not have enrolled in the CBP, but some of those boxers have since then signed up for the program.