When is he going to lace up? He kept a busy schedule and set a very high bar of quality for himself in 2019, capturing the WBA regular featherweight title from Jesús M. Rojas and then making two defenses that same year versus Shun Kubo and Manny Robles III. Since, he is at 1½ years on the shelf gathering dust - smack in the middle of his prime at 27. In fairness, he was embroiled in a social media war of words against British ex-champion Josh Warrington for most of last year - a rivalry that most expected would culminate in a unification grudge match. Alas, negotiations stalled (Warrington refusing to fight abroad; Can refusing to without fans attending live) and the IBF champ vacated (the sanctioning body wouldn't give him permission to unify rather than face their mandatory) and was then shockingly upset by Mauricio Lara. So the big payday is off the proverbial table for the current #1 (by far) p4p Chinese boxer. That doesn't mean he shouldn't have something lined up to stay busy, however. Can't be letting talent like this just wither on the vine: This content is protected Seriously, though, just pop off a few defenses against the likes of Hiroshige Osawa, or Anselmo Moreno - hell, even Lara himself if feeling ambitious. He does find himself in a tough position, as most fighters probably won't be willing to go to China for the dubious prize of mere 'regular' title. Honestly it falls on the WBA to do right by Xu and just upgrade him to Super champion already, to sweeten the pot. Leo Santa Cruz had that distinction but lost it to Gervonta Davis in a bizarre contest with the WBA putting both the Super 130lb held by LSC and Tank's regular lightweight title on the line. Davis is now moving up to challenge for a 140lb title, so there is zero reason not to elevate The Monster so the contenders can come crawling out of the woodwork and get some damn fights made.
Hell, they're only competing twelve pounds apart now - just have Naoya Inoue jump up and they can have an epic mini-Kaiju battle to see who gets to keep the nickname. "Asia isn't big enough for two Monsters " - sells itself.
Think part of the reason the Warrington fight fell through was because the IBF wouldn't let him unify with a secondary champion. Santa Cruz wouldn't vacate and the WBA are Haymon bum boys so won't strip him either. Warrington had to fight Galahad had he not secured a unification, hence him binning off the title to get the Xu fight.
Santa Cruz no longer even has a WBA title, so there's nothing to strip him of. He lost it to Davis... who's now at 140. The super championship ought to be vacant, or they should just elevate Can.
So many potential nicknames... Xu "Yes I" Can Xu "Tomato" Can Xu "Can" Can Xu "Puerto Ri"Can Xu "Mexi"Can Etc.
I've only seen him against Robles but I'd like to see him again. Hopefully he gets a fight lined up soon.
...or, instead of Inoue jumping up to challenge him for the rights to "Monster", he (Xu, that is) could himself jump to welter or wherever the hell that clown About Billions is now and challenge for the rights to "Can Man".
I think Xu doesn't mind to vacate his WBA regular belt for an opportunity to get a real championship belt. Nowadays, as long as someone is not a super champion, he is not a WBA champion. But the problem is the IBF. They are very strict to the rules and demanded his champion to fulfill his mandatory. It's really a shame that Warrington chose to duck it.