The once-settled 168lbs division is now up for grabs. What was once the most orderly, dominated division in boxing has splintered into a free-for-all following the retirement of five-division champion Terence Crawford. Top super middleweight contenders are clamoring for a title shot and the opportunity to become the new king.
All four major sanctioning body titles were relinquished by Crawford just three months after he dethroned undisputed champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez in Las Vegas. The WBA title is already spoken for, while WBC, IBF, and WBO officials race to fill their vacancies by the first quarter of 2026.
Mexico's Alvarez, with a record of 63-3-2 (39 KOs), is the top-ranked contender among three of the organizations. However, he is recovering from surgery and is not expected to fight again until September. The most enviable position belongs to England's Hamzah Sheeraz, 22-1-1 (18 KOs). The unbeaten contender has his choice of fighting for the WBO, WBC, or IBF belts due to his highly ranked position among the bodies. He earned that placement after just one fight at the weight, his explosive knockout of former title challenger Edgar Berlanga last summer in Queens, New York.
A source close to the situation expects Sheeraz to fight unbeaten South Central Los Angeles product Diego Pacheco, 25-0 (18 KOs), for the WBO belt. Pacheco, 24, won three fights in 2025 but failed to stand out. He went the distance in a January win over Steven Nelson, which aged poorly (Nelson was knocked out in the first round of a September undercard affair). The victory was followed by lackluster showings versus Trevor McCumby in July and Kevin Lele Sedjo, against whom he had to survive a knockdown to earn a unanimous decision in December.
WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman, who ordered a Sheeraz title fight against unbeaten interim champion Christian Mbilli last month at the WBC Convention in Bangkok, told BoxingScene that "everything seems to be progressing" positively in the Mbilli-Sheeraz talks. Given the possibility of Sheeraz moving to Pacheco and the WBO strap, Sulaiman said he would turn to Guatemala's unbeaten Lester Martinez for a rematch with Mbilli following their fight-of-the-year-worthy bout on the Alvarez-Crawford card in September. "If anyone pulls out, of course, Martinez comes into their place," Sulaiman said.
The WBA recently elevated interim champion Jose Armando Resendiz, 16-2 (11 KOs), of Mexico to full champion. For the moment, it's uncertain when he'll return to the ring following his May 31 split-decision upset of former IBF champion Caleb Plant in Las Vegas. As for the IBF, Cuba's Osleys Iglesias, 14-0 (13 KOs), is awaiting the suggestion of a title opponent after former 154lbs champion and 2024 super-middleweight title challenger Jaime Munguia opted to pursue another bout.
That leaves Russia's Pavel Silyagin, 16-0-1 (7 KOs), as the next contender in line, assuming that Sheeraz goes the WBO (or even the WBC) route. As all the new titlists emerge, that will leave a lucky one ideally positioned to meet Alvarez, when he returns to the ring, certainly seeking to restore order in a division he once presided over.
