Boxingtalk commends the WBC for establishing an e-mail account available for boxers, promoters, managers and the boxing community in general, where all ratings inquiries will be addressed: wbcratings@wbcboxing.com.

 

The WBC also provided the following bit of transparency into its ratings process: There are eighteen weight divisions, ranging from heavyweight to minimumweight. World champions must face ranked boxers, and that’s where these [rating] lists become interesting, significant, and relevant. [Former WBC precedent] Jose Sulaimán instituted the WBC rantings in 1968. Since then, they have been compiled month after month, making this one of the bodie’s highest-priority activities. The WBC Ratings Committee has members who span countries across different parts of the world: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, China, England, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Panama, Philippines, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Thailand, Venezuela, and the United States. 

 

How the Ratings Committee Works

 

The monthly results of ranked boxers and the significant results of unranked boxers are listed and compiled. Each analysis includes the boxers’ records, the highlights of their fights, and often a list of their previous results. Month after month, the results of an average of 150 to 200 fights are analyzed. Ranking boxers is a very complex task that requires meticulous knowledge of boxing, common sense, analytical skills, impartiality, objectivity, absolute honesty, and a sense of fairness. There is a very interesting procedure for analyzing each case; records are simply numbers, and these can be very misleading.

 

The Committee’s Process:

 

Weekly, ranking committee members compile fight results and other information related to fighters in their region, as well as global activity. The Chairman of the Ratings Committee prepares an agenda with possible ranking actions, which is distributed to all committee members five days before the monthly virtual meeting. The first Sunday of each month, a monthly virtual meeting takes place, which can last up to seven hours. During this, a first draft is compiled and sent to the committee members. Members provide feedback to create a second, and sometimes a third, draft.

The final draft is approved by our President Mauricio Sulaiman, making it ready for publication.