The WBC has elected to strip Andre Ward of his WBC super middleweight title and has sanctioned a bout between No. 1-ranked Anthony Dirrell (24-0, 21 KOs) and No. 3-ranked Nikola Sjekloca (24-0, 7 KOs) for the world title.
Ward, who injured his hand in the Showtime Super Six World Boxing Classic final in December, has still not announced his next move. The WBC claims the hand injury is the reason for their move, which they are calling “promoting to champion in recess," yet Ward has stated his hand has healed.
Ward fought his way through the Super Six tournament to win two world titles and a place among the best in the sport, and the WBC was happy to include their title in the tournament. But as quick as they agreed to allow their title into a big-money tournament that could have (and did) last two years, they took it away from its rightful owner in favor of an immediate stimulus of cash.
This isn’t the first time the WBC has bent its own rules to remove a semi-inactive champion from his post before the period for a mandatory defense expires (see Timothy Bradley last July), in favor of promoting its internal agenda and an immediate payday for the Mexico-based organization. And it certainly won’t be the last
