As of last month, Klitschko was not ranked in the top 15 under the WBC. He did hold a number 2 ranking under the WBA and a number 3 ranking under the IBF.
The man holding the WBC's top spot in the ranking, Bermane Stiverne, is the mandatory challenger to Wilder's title.
Wilder has already been ordered to defend his title against Stiverne. The fight will be a rematch of their January 2015 encounter, which saw Wilder dominate his way to a twelve round unanimous decision to capture the WBC belt from Stiverne.
Sitting at #3 under the WBC is Cuba's Luis Ortiz, who is already the WBA's mandatory challenger to Joshua, and the hard puncher is already pushing the issue under legal threat to get the British champion in the ring. Ortiz will likely have to wait, because even if Klitschko decides to take a pass on the rematch, then Joshua's handlers have already made it clear that IBF mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev would be next.
http://www.BS.com/klitschko-la ... l91GX.dpuf
