WBO declares Alex Leapai to be Wladimir Klitschko's official mandatory

GTF back to castefootball, *******.

 

This news baffles me, as I had thought the Boytsov vs Leapai fight was simply a stay-busy fight for Boytsov, and not an official eliminator for the mandatory shot. But to be fair to the WBO, Wladimir Klitschko has not made a mandatory defense of the WBO title since sometime before the David Haye fight, which was 2 1/2 years ago. Boytsov was to finally be the mandatory, but now that he lost to Leapai, the WBO must have been scrambling to find a replacement. Looking at what I think are the most recent WBO Heavyweight rankings (below), at least the WBO had Leapai ranked 8th, so by their own criteria, a Top Ten fighter who beat the #1 ranked contender conceivably deserves a title shot. Note that the IBF is also mandating Klitschko defend their title, against Pulev; I guess Pulev will have to wait his turn.

Wladimir Klitschko
1. Denis Boytsov
2. Bermane Stiverne
3. Deontay Wilder
4. Robert Helenius
5. Tyson Fury
6. Andy Ruiz
7. Dereck Chisora
8. Alex Leapai
9. Christian Hammer
10. Mike Perez
11. Kubrat Pulev
12. Chris Arreola
13. Bryant Jennings
14. Vyacheslav Glazkov
15. Alexander Ustinov

 

Another sheep to the slaughter

 

I'll pass on that fight probably. I wish Leapai good, but this selection of mandatory challenger has been bewildering. As far as WBO's rankings are concerned - Leapai in front of Pulev and Boytsov befre Chisora??? Gimme a break...

 

x2

 

Pulev is already the IBF's mandatory, so the WBO want their own contender. That's how the organizations operate. They will never have the same #1 guy, not in their best interests, and will manipulate their rankings to prevent that froim happening.

 

Huge Wlad fan, but at this point it is time to drop the WBO belt.

I would rather watch him thrash Adamek in a sold out Garden than watch him clown a guy only diehards know about.

 

Ridiculous, I agree Wlad should drop the WBO belt.

 

Dreadful opponent & the Klitschko fan-club are already making excuses

 

What the hell are you talking about? Nobody in this thread is saying they are happy with Lepai as the mandatory and what exactly are people "excusing?"

 

He isn't bad, but that isn't the point.

Wlad needs to keep fighting high profile fights and as long as he has one belt, all of his legacy, milestones, and records will be intact.

If there is anyone with any sense in his camp, they simply need to tell him that if the WBO won't budge, he needs to devalue their belt and drop it.

 

I hope Leapai gets a nice payday, and gets the opportunity to pursue boxing fulltime. But Wad needs to fight the best contenders available before he retires. He should drop the belt.

 

Many champs have relinquished belts in the past because the opponent was poor and unmarketable.
It will do him more damage than good taking this fight.

In years to come people will look at Wlads title reign and see nothing but unknown names. He's washing his legacy away in the long run , so more luck to him