Michael Conlan Now Ranked In The Junior featherweight Division
The WBO rankings are now showing a change in their ranking system. When COVID-19, hit there wasn’t any movement of any kind in sports, especially boxing. In March 2020, the organization had WBO featherweight champion Shakur “Fearless” Stevenson (14-0, 8ko) on top with Michael Conlan (13-0, 7ko) ranked at the number one slot. With boxing now starting to pick back up, there has been a change within the WBO ranking system.
THE WBO SHUFFLE
“Fearless” has moved up to junior lightweight and is targeting a fight with WBC champion Miguel “El Alacran” Berchelt (37-1, 33ko). However, Conlan won’t be fighting for the vacated title; actually, the former 2016 Olympian no longer holds a ranking in the division anymore. Taking a peek at the updated rankings for July, Conlan ranks #3, but in the junior featherweight division. Yes, this means he has moved down.
Hold on, there is more. In the junior featherweight division, the WBO champion Emanuel “Vaquero” Navarrete (31-1, 27ko) also moved up. Vaquero will face former champion Jessie Magdaleno (28-1, 18ko) for Stevenson’s vacated title.
Confused? Wait, there is plenty more.
Conlan is in line to face the winner of the junior featherweight title bout. Now that is a huge shift, and with this new addition, it adds some spice to a very talented division. Now that the deck has been thoroughly shuffled, hopefully soon the boxing community will finally get to see the 28-year-old Irish boxer challenge for a championship.
By: Garrisson Bland
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