Moses Itauma, widely viewed as boxing’s future and the heavyweight division’s biggest knockout artist, has been hit by a WBA rankings blunder after the sanctioning body admitted mistakenly identifying Jarrell Miller as its official mandatory challenger.
The World Boxing Association issued a statement to World Boxing News confirming the error, clarifying that Itauma remains the only official mandatory challenger despite a published rankings mistake that caused confusion in the heavyweight division.
WBA Heavyweight Blunder
In information provided to WBN, the WBA acknowledged that its July heavyweight rankings had “incorrectly listed Jarrell Miller as the division’s official mandatory challenger.”
The sanctioning body stressed there is only one official mandatory challenger.
“The heavyweight division has one official mandatory challenger: Moses Itauma, who currently holds the No. 1 spot in the rankings and has been awaiting his world title opportunity for several months,” the WBA told WBN.
The organization added that although Miller returned with a unanimous decision victory over Lenier Pero in Las Vegas, “the bout was not a final eliminator. As such, that victory did not make him the WBA’s official mandatory challenger.”
The WBA concluded by apologizing for the mistake.
“The WBA sincerely apologizes for the inadvertent error and any confusion it may have caused. This clarification is being issued in the interest of maintaining transparency within one of boxing’s premier divisions and ensuring that the public has an accurate understanding of the current status of the heavyweight championship picture.”
Moses Itauma
The admission came only days after Oleksandr Usyk described Itauma as boxing’s future during the Anthony Joshua vs. Kristian Prenga event in Saudi Arabia.
The heavyweight division’s biggest knockout artist now has his future clarified and can choose from several routes to a world title.
Itauma is already the WBA and WBO mandatory challenger, has been ordered to face Frank Sanchez for the vacant IBF heavyweight championship, and is also highly ranked by the WBC. Barring the unexpected, the 21-year-old appears destined to become a world champion within the next six months.
The WBA’s admission is not a good look, though. Making a mistake on that scale only adds to the recent vote of no confidence from fans and the media over the number of WBA titles in circulation.
At the last count, WBN identified 43 WBA champions across 17 weight divisions, with a new update on the situation due soon.
The clarification restores order to the heavyweight rankings, but the blunder is another blow to confidence in a sanctioning body already under scrutiny.
About the Author
Phil Jay is the Editor-in-Chief of World Boxing News (WBN), a BWAA-acknowledged boxing news website founded in 2010. A veteran boxing reporter with 16 years of experience, he has interviewed world champions, broken international exclusives, and reported ringside from major events. His work is published worldwide through WBN and distributed on platforms including Apple News.
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