Mario Barrios Elevated To Full WBC Welterweight Title Status

Mario Barrios was forced to wait out the inevitable.

Confirmation was finally offered by the WBC to name San Antonio’s Barrios (28-2, 18 knockouts) as its recognized welterweight titlist. The ruling ends his nine-month stay as an interim titleholder, and came more than a month after his previous outing.

Weirdly, it also came more than three weeks after a previous ruling left the primary title status vacant. Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford (40-0-1, 31 KOs) previously held the main belt before he was downgraded in title status due to his decision to challenge for a 154-pound title.

“The WBC Board of Governors has voted in favor of the ruling to elevate interim champion Mario Barrios to World champion,” the sanctioning body announced Tuesday. “The WBC granted Terrence Crawford the Champion in recess status and will compete in a final elimination bout in the super welterweight division to then decide in which category he will continue.”

Crawford, The Ring 147-pound champion and No. 3 pound-for-pound, will next challenge WBA 154-pound titlist Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs) No. 3 at 154 by The Ring. Their Aug. 3 meeting in Los Angeles also comes with the promise of a mandatory shot at the WBC 154-pound title.

Barrios, The Ring’s No. 4-rated welterweight, claimed the interim WBC welterweight title after he defeated Yordenis Ugas last September.

The WBC approved the secondary title fight since Crawford was contractually bound to a rematch with Errol Spence (28-1, 20 KOs). Crawford wiped out Spence in nine one-sided rounds to fully unify the welterweight division last July 29 but has not yet returned to the weight.

Barrios most recently defended the interim title trinket in a twelve-round decision over Fabian Maidana. Their May 4 bout was part of the Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez-Jaime Munguia Prime Video Pay-Per-View event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

At the time, it was assumed that Barrios would either be named as Crawford’s mandatory or elevated to full titleholder. The WBC decided to make everyone wait, even after the May 27 ruling to downgrade Crawford to ‘Champion in Recess.’

The significance of the move is that Barrios now has the freedom to pursue true unification bouts. It will be needed, as the division has all but lost its top two stars.

Neither Crawford nor Spence are likely to return to welterweight. Crawford still holds the WBA and WBO belts. However, he will likely have to vacate both, should he defeat Madrimov in August. Eimantas Stanionis (15-0, 9 KOs), No. 3 at 147 by The Ring, holds the WBA ‘Regular’ belt. Ring No. 10-rated Brian Norman (26-0, 20 KOs) is the interim WBO titlist.

Philadelphia’s Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis (31-0, 28 KOs), No. 2 at 147, holds the IBF title. He was elevated from interim status when Crawford failed to honor an ordered mandatory title fight last fall. Ennis will defend versus David Avanesyan (30-4-1, 16 KOs), No. 6 at 147, on July 13 in his Philly hometown.

Barrios and Stanionis both fighter under the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) conglomerate.

Next up for Barrios could be a high-profile novelty fight, if a deal can be struck in time. He has been linked to a potential title defense versus former eight-division champion Manny Pacquiao. Talks are ongoing, but Pacquiao—who announced his retirement after an Aug. 2021 defeat to Ugas—is eager for one more title fight.

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