Any plans Frank Warren has to stage Fury vs. Charr on December 3 will need some explanation from the World Boxing Council.
Mahmoud Charr is unable to challenge Tyson Fury for the WBC heavyweight title after entering the new WBC qualifications for September.
World Boxing News explained that Charr previously had no chance of being penalized for a Fury world championship fight due to his ranking.
The German-based fighter was not in the Top 40, let alone the Top 15, where he needed to be for a voluntary ban.
Fury vs Charr
The WBC mysteriously elevated Charr two weeks ago despite not fighting at all since May. It’s amazing how a boxer can move up at least 22 places in the rankings without winning a fight in the previous month.
However, this is still not efficient enough for a Fury vs. Charr matchup in November or December.
Fury declared on social media that he wants to fight this winter on British soil. Anthony Joshua is his preferred option. Charr has been sounded out in case AJ doesn’t agree to the terms.
But that endorsement is off the table unless Warren can persuade the WBC to let Charr volunteer. Fury has ambitions to defend the title against Charr due to Joshua’s continued delay and uncertainty.
Joshua entered the rankings at number six despite losing in Saudi Arabia last month, a position high enough to compete for the green and gold strap if a deal is eventually struck.
If not, Fury has few options for that willing defense. At this point, Charr would have to ask for a special exception.
Tyson Fury’s WBC Fight Options
If the WBC doesn’t sanction Charr, Fury will be forced to look elsewhere. WBN lists the realistic options below.
Derek Chisora moved up two more places after beating Kubrat Pulev earlier this year. Fury has mentioned “WAR” on more than one occasion for a trilogy fight.
Martin Bakole becomes another solid option due to his ties to the UK. But it must be said that there are few options for Fury of those three.
The rest of the top fifteen are either out of commission due to upcoming fights or have little interest in a UK Pay Per View.
Otto Wallin, whom Fury controversially defeated in 2019, would be a potential fourth contender. The Swede exclusively relayed his views to WBN regarding a possible rematch earlier this month.
“Yes, I am ready to fight him again. But I think he’s not going to fight me unless he makes me the mandatory challenger and he’s forced to fight me,” Wallin told WBN.
“I think the cuts he had were very bad. He had 47 points after the fight. If he had those cuts, the doctors would have stopped the fight, for sure.”
British boxing fans are expecting Fury vs Joshua in December before a rematch between April and June next year.
WBC Ratings – Heavyweight [September 2022]:
1 Deontay Wilder USA 2 Andy Ruiz Jr. Mexico/USA USA 3 Frank Sanchez Cuba CONTINENTAL AMERICA 4 Robert Helenius Finland 5 Arslanbek Makhmudov Russia/Canada NABF 6 Anthony Joshua GB 7 Dillian Whyte GB 8 Otto Wallen Sweden 9 Martin Bakole Congo/GB 10 Zhan Kossobutskiy Kazakhstan INTL 11 Luis Ortiz Cuba 12 Michael Hunter USA 13 Derek Chisora GB 14 Filip Hrgovic Croatia 15 Efe Ajagba Nigeria/USA
WBC Voluntary Court
16 Agit Kabayel Germany 17 Murat Gassiev Russia 18 Jared Anderson USA19 Mahmoud Charr Libya20 Zhilei Zhang China
**Usyk is not ranked as a unified champion.
WBN editor Phil has over ten years of boxing news experience. He follows WBN on Facebook @officialworldboxingnews and Twitter @worldboxingnews.
