The WBA Championships Committee ordered a fight between Otabek Kholmatov and Raymond Ford for its vacant featherweight title. The two will vie to replace Leigh Wood, who decided to vacate the belt after his October 7th win over Josh Warrington. The WBA will give Kholmatov and Ford thirty days to reach an agreement, and if one is not reached within the given period of time or if either party refuses to do so, the WBA may call the fight to auction with a 50% purse split for each contender. In March, Kholmatov scored a fifth-round technical knockout win over Thomas Patrick Ward in a WBA featherweight eliminator in Newcastle, England. Kholmatov dominated Ward, convincing Ward's corner to throw in the towel. The 24-year old’s power and aggression were evident from the first round and he was able to knock the Brit down in that first round, in addition to knockdowns in rounds four and five. Kholmatov is a threat at 126 pounds and now has a path to a WBA title shot, with Mauricio Lara currently holding the title. Kholmatov is now 11-0. Though he had been inactive for one year, it was his second straight win over a previously undefeated foe. Ward falls to 33-1-1.
PRIOR BOXINGTALK COVERAGE
WBA / OCT. 18, 2023: Leigh Wood has decided to move up to the super featherweight division, leaving the WBA featherweight belt vacant. The British fighter recently defended his crown with a spectacular knockout of Josh Warrington on October 7th and had already announced unofficially his intention to move up to 130 pounds. This week, his team sent the formal communication of his decision to the sanctioning body. “We would like to express our sincere thanks to the WBA for their support and for allowing Leigh to win, defend and ultimately regain his world honors. The WBA has played a crucial role in shaping Leigh’s career, and we are truly grateful for the experiences he has gained during his time as featherweight champion,” noted the letter.
WBA / MAY 28, 2023: In Manchester, England, Leigh Wood regained the WBA featherweight championship, taking advantage of an immediate remath clause to earn a unanimous decision over Mauricio Lara of Mexico. Wood scored a knockdown of Lara in the second round abd went on to win by scores of 118-109 (twice) and 116-111. Wood (27-3) hopes to set up a British super fight vs. Josh Warrington later in the year. Lara, who upset woods via seventh-round stoppage in February, falls to 26-3-1.
WBO / APR. 2, 2023... Two-time Olympic gold medalist Robeisy Ramirez (26-3 including the World Series of Boxing) captured the vacant WBO featherweight world title with a unanimous decision victory over former junior featherweight champion Isaac “Royal Storm” Dogboe (24-3, 15 KOs) Saturday evening at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa. The title became vacant when Emanuel Navarrete moved up and won a world title at 130 pounds. After an opening feel out round, the 29-year-old wobbled Dogboe with a counter left hand that began a relentless attack. The two then exchanged bombs in the following round, while Dogboe began landing body shots in the fourth. By the sixth round, however, Ramirez established control and landed consecutive left hands on Dogboe. From then on, Ramirez’s footwork and feints began to keep Dogboe at bay, while additional left hands kept finding a home Ramirez scored a knockdown in the final round, though Dogboe disputed the call as a slip. Nevertheless, Ramirez, who is trained by Ismael Salas, won going away champion by scores of 117-110, 118-109 and 119-108.
IBF / DEC. 11, 2022... Luis Alberto Lopez of Mexico just barely defeated Josh Warrington to nick the IBF featherweight championship. Lopez defeated Warrington in Leeds, England, Warrington's home. Warrington started slowly and appeared to lose most of the early rounds, but rallied back over the last four. Warrington had a strong eleventh, and was doing well in the tweflth, which saw Lopez warned for excessive holding. The referee's warning seemed to run a few extra seconds off the clock, which gave Lopez a breather. After a furious final ten seconds, the bout was scored a majority decision, with one scorecard reading 114-114, but that was overruled by two cards of 115-113 for Lopez.
WBC / JULY 10, 2022: Mexico’s Rey Vargas became a two-division champion Saturday night as he rose from a knockdown and boxed and banged his way to the WBC featherweight championship against Mark Magsayo by split-decision at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The battle of unbeatens was a fast-paced affair throughout, with both men holding momentum at different moments but never giving in to their determined opponent. Despite his height and reach advantage, Vargas (36-0, 22 KOs) was prepared to go toe-to-toe with the hard-charging Magsayo (24-1, 16 KOs) and was able to use his superior activity to edge the decision on the judges’ cards with two scores of 115-112 against a 114-113 score for Magsayo.
