Since it's basically official - from my understanding - that Inoue will vacate his titles soon, I thought it will be interesting to look at the ratings of 4 major governing bodies and see what match-ups We might get and how things will play out in bantamweight division in the near future. Here's one of the possible scenarios: IBF: Emmanuel Rodriguez vs Vincent Astrolabio That's an easy one. Rodriguez's manager said that They're expecting to fight for vacant IBF belt, Rod is number 1 in ratings and Astrolabio just won an eliminator. Both are working with PBC so should be easy fight to make. WBC Jason Moloney vs Nonito Donaire Two highest ranked contenders and fight was already approved by WBC while ago. I believe Jason is going to be up for it, not 100% sure about Donaire. If two camps can't come to an agreement (Donaire is working with Probellum and Jason is with TR - and both are ranked highly in other organisations also, giving them other alternatives) Next in line for either could be Reymart Gaballo or Charlie Edwards. WBA Takuma Inoue vs Liborio Solis It gets a bit more confusing here. WBA is notoriously sloppy with their ratings (Didn't They rank a fighter years after He passed away not long ago?). They have Takuma Inoue as number 1, even though He fought his last 3 fights at Super Bantamweight. It is possible that He will drop back down as his brother moves up, but it could also be WBA just being sloppy. Next in line is Nonito - who will probably opt for WBC route - and Liborio Solis, 40 years old Venezuelan. Looks like WBA and Gilberto Mendoza just supporting his own, but to be fair - Liborio had couple decent wins since He lost to Rigondeaux so He's still somewhat capable and not completely unreasonable contender in not particulary deep division. WBO Lee McGregor vs Reymart Gaballo It's a bit tricky to predict what happens here. WBO have Moloney, Rodriguez and Astrolabio as 3 highest ranked contenders, 3 fighters who are in line for other belts also. Next in line are Reymart Gaballo, Melvin Lopez, Paul Butler and Lee McGregor. Technically, You'd expect highest 2 available to be ordered to fight for vacant title - but with the way WBO operates, I think it will more likely depend on what promoter makes best offer on what fight They are willing to organise, featuing any of the ranked contenders. If a fight between Nonito and Jason for WBC belt can't be organised, I'm pretty sure Top Rank will arrange a bout between Jason Moloney - and opponent of their choosing. It may also be Probellum matching Nonito, Butler and/or McGregor - and WBO sanctioning any fight between 2 out of those 3 as a championship bout. I'm going to go with McGregor vs Gaballo here, but it could be dozen of other scenarios. - Overall, it's clear that division is not going to be particulary strong or rich in talent in the near future. You can see that guys who will fight for vacant belts is a mixture of past-prime veterans and solid, but ordinary contenders that wouldn't get those opportunities in more competitive divisions. The intrigue will probably come out of some of the Super Flyweight veterans - Ioka, Chocolatito or Estrada - moving up to challange for title in another weight-class. They will probably see great opportunity to make history, with some relatively weak title-holders They could go after. Thank You for your attention ). Any thoughts, or predictions?
