By: Sean Crose
A few weeks ago, Shakur Stevenson raised eyebrows when he lost the WBC featherweight superweight belt on the scales before pitting him against Robson Conceicao.
Underdog Conceicao could have claimed the title on his own if he had beaten Stevenson, but that didn’t happen, as Stevenson easily dominated the fight. With Stevenson later announcing that he was moving into lightweight, the WBC had to set up a match to claim its featherweight super belt.
And that match is now up for order, as Rey Vargas and O’Shaquie Foster were instructed to choose the WBC strap.
“The WBC Board of Governors voted unanimously to approve the request of the current WBC featherweight champion, Rey Vargas from Mexico, to fight for the vacated ultralightweight title against the arresting candidate. division and WBC silver champion O´Shaquie Foster,” WBC announced on its website on Monday.
“The WBC has requested a free period of negotiation for the Vargas vs Foster match. The winner of this duel will commit to 2 mandatory defenses in accordance with WBC rules and regulations. ”
The organization explained why Vargas deserved to have his application approved.
“Vargas is unbeaten as a WBC super bantamweight from 2017-2019 and has defended five times,” WBC stated. “He then put on weight and won the featherweight title in his final bout defeating former champion Mark Magsayo.”
As for Foster 19-2, he has ranked himself as the leading contender in the ultralightweight division for the WBC. It would be considered unfair by many if he wasn’t given a chance to fight for the title. Of course, it’s possible to argue things like fairness and rule of law are rarely associated with the sport of boxing, so surely Foster will be pleased to make his shot.
Vargas 36-0 is currently holding the WBC featherweight belt since defeating Mark Mayago in July. As WBC made it clear, he is also the lightweight featherweight world champion.
Rumor has it that Vargas is unbeaten against Leo Santa Cruz to unify the featherweight title (Santa Cruz is the WBA champion). With that match unlikely, however, it looks like Vargas will come forward to take on Foster. If he beat Foster, Vargas would become a three-time world champion – no small feat.
