The WBA has announced a new division in the sport of boxing, following the path of the WBC.
The Super-Cruiserweight class will see fighters compete between the cruiserweight limit of 200lbs and 224lbs. In a statement, the sanctioning body said:
“The creation of this new weight will mainly help to avoid bouts in which the fighters enter the ring with excessive weight differences, as tends to happen at heavyweight occasionally, where there can be differences of 20 pounds or more.
Fighters considered ” small heavyweights” will have the option to move down to super cruiserweight and seek opportunities against more balanced weight opponents, in the quest to make the sport increasingly fairer.
The WBA ranking committee has already begun working on the creation of the rankings for this weight and the first divisional match-ups will be announced soon.
The WBA will continue to work on making boxing a fairer sport that provides opportunities and fairness to all involved, especially the boxers.”
It follows the WBC, which introduced the Bridgerweight class in November 2020. It has the same weight limit, and its world title has been held be Oscar Rivas and Łukasz Różański. Tony Bellew considered a return to compete in the division this year.
Despite the intentions of the divisions, stars like Deontay Wilder – who could make the number on the scales comfortably – has said he has no interest in competing outside of heavyweight.
Fans took a similar stance to the WBA’s announcement, with one pointing out that its current champion, Oleksandr Usyk, competes at around 220lbs and has beaten the likes of Anthony Joshua (245) and Daniel Dubois (233).
Usyk – who also held the WBA’s cruiserweight title in the past – will be going in against the 270lbs Tyson Fury in February of 2024, and many are tipping him to win.
Others said that the focus should be bridging the gap between light heavy and cruiser – a widely held opinion should a new division be needed.
Finally, a social media user said “boxing has too many divisions, it doesn’t need any more” which seemed to be the consensus.