Guillermo Rigondeaux has been stripped of his WBA World title after losing to Vasyl Lomachenko, a fight he wanted before he would face mandatory challenger, Moises Flores.
Rigo applied for a special permission to allow him to move up weight divisions to challenge WBO Super Featherweight champion, Lomachenko, a permission granted by the WBA, but with a warning that if he was to lose against Lomachenko, he would be stripped of the title.
The fight did not go to plan for Rigondeaux, who retired after the sixth round, due to an injury to his hand. He did not look anything close to what he has been showing in previous fights and many believe he just wanted a way out of the fight.
The latest official WBA ratings have taken Rigo off the list and Danny Roman has become the full titleholder.
The WBA has also released a statement in the new year, in regards to reducing the number of championships on offer under their banner.
“The World Boxing Association (WBA) announced in January 2016 that it would work on reducing the amount of champions in the 17 boxing categories and we have done so. 2017 started with 32 champions and closed with 25 monarchs in the 17 categories, although it is pertinent to note that when this plan started in the search for a sole monarch, there were 42 champions.”
In addition, there are 9 categories that have only one champion, and if not, the title remains vacant and about to be disputed. In that spirit, the Championship Committee has worked tirelessly to make the resolutions honoured. It has also given much-needed mobility to several categories by ordering qualifying combats.
Without a doubt, this goes to show coherence with the new policies of the WBA and for 2018 a promise to keep on working on our rules proposals.”