Groves, DeGale, and the WBO

[nh1]

At the James DeGale press conference the other day, FW mentioned how DeGale's opponent, Piotr Wilczewski, was ranked as their number 2 contender, and how, if DeGale beats him, he may become their number 1 or number 2 contender.

A check on the latest WBO rankings reveals that Groves is nowhere to be seen, despite beating DeGale! Why not? This isn't a silly case of a governing body refusing to acknowledge a fighter's existence because Groves holds another organization's belt; and he's ranked above DeGale by the WBC, WBA, and IBF.

I know the kneejerk response is 'What do you expect? They all make silly decisions, and the ratings are a farce', but I'd love to hear the WBO's explanation of why a fighter who has beaten DeGale can't even get into their top 15, let alone be ranked above DeGale when he holds British and Commonwealth titles.

[JDC]

Warren provides the organisation with lots of sanctioning fees, so they provide his fighters with high rankings

[coghaugen11]

Is DeGale in the WBO top 15 right now

[nh1]

Is DeGale in the WBO top 15 right now

Yes, he is. Here are the latest ratings:

Champ ROBERT STIEGLITZ GER
Interim
1 Mikkel Kessler DK
2 Piotr Wilczewski (Int-Cont) POL
3 Kelly Pavlik USA
4 Renan St. Juste CAN
5 Arthur Abraham ARM
6 Pablo O. Natalio Farias (Latino) ARG
7 James DeGale GB
8 Nader Hamdan (Asia-Pacific) AUST
9 Stanyslav Kashtanov UKR
10 Karoly Balzsay HUN
11 Willbeforce Shihepo (WBO Africa) NAM
12 Roberto Santos (WBO Europe) SPN
13 Edwin Rodriguez USA
14 Ezequiel Osvaldo Maderna (Latino Int.) ARG
15 Hugo Kasperski (WBO Youth) FRA

[freddydoesdallas]

That is a high ranking for a fella who it could be argued is only 4th best in his country (Froch, Magee, Groves)

[coghaugen11]

That is a high ranking for a fella who it could be argued is only 4th best in his country (Froch, Magee, Groves)

5th maybe, Anderson would be a toughie to say the least for DeGale.

[dbf]

The end game with the WBO could be Kessler if he beats Steiglitz and I don't think DeGale is ready for him. So not sure what Frank will do?

[Sid-the-hat]

The end game with the WBO could be Kessler if he beats Steiglitz and I don't think DeGale is ready for him. So not sure what Frank will do?

Don't be naive. Vacant interim title. Nailed on. Even if Kessler defended against Froch a month before they'd still allow it.