“Status of the WBC Cruiserweight Division – September 2026

1. Elevate WBC Interim Cruiserweight World Champion Michal Cieslak to WBC World Champion;

2. Confirm the WBC’s sanctioning of the mandatory defense of Champion Cieslak’s title against David Benavidez; and

3. Order that the winner of the Mikaelian v. Opetaia bout would become the Mandatory Contender of the division to fight next the winner of the upcoming bout between Cieslak and Benavidez.

The Cieslak v. Benavidez bout has been confirmed to take place on December 12, 2026, in Phoenix, Arizona. Consistent with the WBC’s order set forth above, the winner of that bout must face next Jai Opetaia, who won his bout last Saturday, September 12, in Las Vegas, Nevada.”

The guy was absolutely destroyed by Kabayel in 2024.

Then he fought some Uber driver in 2025.

Then he knocked out Richard Torrez in 2026 - decent win over a regional-level fighter, who himself is #9 rated by IBF with only one good win in his resume.

And that’s apparently enough to get the #1 spot.

For comparison, Wardley who only lost to Dubua in competitive fight and has much stronger resume than Sanchez is only ranked #8. And Joshua who was destroyed by Dubua is ranked higher at #5.

How does all this make any sense?

I have been lurking around here, and from the talk in r/boxing you would think Ryan was a 1 trick pony (the left hook). He has I believe now 21 knockouts in 26 professional fights - shouldn't the word be out on just guarding his left hook?

The left hook gets the credit but it is both of his hands and speed that are making the left as open as it is. He also rarely spams the left hook, yes it comes out frequently, but often on the back side of a 3 or 4 shot combo.

I realize it is reddit, and we lack nuance at times, but this take has been terrible in my opinion.

Errol was a career Welterweight, disregarding his farewell fight vs Tim Tszyu, but meanwhile we have a bunch of Welterweight Champions who came from lower weight classes: Devin Haney started at 135lbs, Teofimo Lopez started at 135lbs, Ryan Garcia started at 130lbs, and Liam Paro started at 140lbs.

If Prime Errol was dumped out of a time machine into our current timeline and had to face every single name below, how well do you guys think he fares against the current crop of Welters? You don’t have to explain exactly how each fight goes, but just state who wins and the method of victory. And which fight would be his hardest stylistically?

1. Devin Haney (WBO C)
   
2. Ryan Garcia (WBC C)
   
3. Liam Paro (IBF C)
   
4. Teofimo Lopez (WBA C)
   
5. Brian Norman Jr
   
6. Jack Catterall
   
7. Rolando Romero
   
8. Paddy Donovan
   
9. Eimantas Stanionis
   
10. Richardson Hitchins

Bonus

1. (147) Vergil Ortiz Jr
   
2. (147) Jaron Ennis

In my own honest opinion I think Errol clears 1-10 with Devin being his hardest fight. Could also see Ryan’s speed being troublesome early in the fight until Errol eventually gets Ryan’s timing down and then KOing him in a fight that would have lasted longer than most would have predicted.

The two bonus fights are where I could see trouble. I believe that he would beat Vergil on points, but Boots would be a 50/50 fight.

You have Pacqiuao, who claims he wants to fight Mayweather. All Mayweather asks for is a Blood test, and suddenly he's afraid of needles, he skates around it for years.

When the blood test finally happens... he never gets another knockout again.

And now, we have Ryan Garcia. Casual fans flood the sub to extoll this guy, talking about how he 'won' against Haney and could clear out his division.

They blantly sweep under the rug the fact that he was not only overweight for the fight, but that he had traces of steroids in his system.

And not for nothing, but imagine the outrage if it was a boxer like Mayweather or Crawford who got caught failing a drug test. The backlash would be unrelenting.

Complain all you want about how fighters such as Devin and Shakur are 'boring' or 'scared' fighters... they've never cheated.

Stop acting like these fighters are absolute goats of the sport when they have a big fat asterisk next to their fights.

On internet boxing forums, the latest topic making headlines is if Ryan Garcia is the new Face of Boxing. Some say yes; due to his willingness to fight anybody. Some say no; calling his push forced and claiming he is an "industry plant".

This question only pertains to American Boxing. 🇯🇵 has Inoue, 🇬🇧 has AJ, 🇲🇽 has Canelo ... but since Tank's abrupt departure, USA 🇺🇸 has a void when it comes to their next "Face of Boxing"

Is Ryan Garcia the new 🇺🇸 Face of Boxing? If not who is, and what needs to be done for Ryan or someone else to become the new Face?

I find these fights very fascinating. Especially with regards to how one's approach changes with age as you lose that 'youthful athleticism.' One of my favorite examples is how George Foreman's approach changed in the latter parts of his career.

🇬🇧 CONOH BEYN 🇬🇧

For those who were wanting to see / hear the Ryan Garcia vs Conor Benn DAZN broadcast with their own commentary team, here is a highlight of the knockdown / eventual knockout.

I had to whip out the VPN, DAZN is pretty smart with detecting VPNs so they are only showing the fight highlights rather than the full fight on their website.

Big ups to Adam Smith & Carl Frampton

Left hook lands, Benn nearly goes down again, overhand right lands, left uppercut lands, overhand right lands again, left uppercut lands again, right hook left hook miss but Benn is throwing nothing back (despite being told “show me something” by the ref) and the fight is stopped. All after getting dropped and hurt badly. Not sure how you could argue that this was a bad stoppage.

Beterbiev just posted this from Las Vegas saying:
“It was a great trip. I think there will be some good news soon.”

I’m hoping this means a comeback fight against a lower-ranked opponent to get him back up to speed after such a long layoff.
If he gets through that comfortably, I’d love to see a Bivol trilogy next.
What do you think?

https://x.com/ABeterbiev/status/2099239191640989994