Mauricio Sulaiman, president of the World Boxing Council, openly admits that it’s very confusing to fans when there are three WBC champions in a single weight division.
Teofimo Lopez is the WBC’s ‘Franchise’ champion at lightweight, Devin Haney is the WBC’s full champion, while Ryan Garcia recently captured the WBC’s interim-title this past Saturday with a knockout of Luke Campbell.
Both Lopez and Haney argue often over which of them is the real WBC lightweight champion.
Besides the WBC’s Franchise belt, Lopez also owns the WBA, WBO, IBF titles.
Sulaiman tabs Lopez as the top WBC champion at the weight.
“Teofimo Lopez is the undisputed lightweight champion,” Sulaiman told the Ak and Barak show. “And whoever beats Teofimo, if there is someone who beats him, he must be called undisputed.”
Sulaiman was pressed by the hosts, who asked the sanctioning body head if it’s disrespectful to Haney when labeling Teofimo the undisputed champion.
He justified the WBC’s actions by explaining that their intention was to provide assistance to help fights get made - but he fails to discuss the WBC earning a lot of money in sanctioning fees by having three beltholders in a single division.
“I have spoken with Devin and his father. And I think the franchise designation was created recently by the WBC. The idea and purpose is to provide the best fights for the fans. And I’m very happy that this year, in the lightweight division, that was achieved. Through the franchise naming, we got to see the fight between Teofimo and Lomachenko , and we saw Devin Haney recovering from his injury to fight Gamboa. We also saw Ryan Garcia against Luke Campbell,” Sulaiman said.
“I understand the confusion with the belts, and perhaps the frustration. But we take the path of watching the best fights. I respect Haney, I’m very proud of him, I’m very close to him, and it’s just a matter of all of them getting in the ring and forgetting all of that discussion on social media. Get in the ring, and show who is the best. That’s what everyone wants to see.”