May 18, 2024

WBC 140-pound tournament: Postol-Prograis ordered; Imam, Ramirez, Reed in the mix

Viktor Postol, Regis Prograis, Amir Imam, Jose Ramirez, and Mike Reed are involved in the situation.

If Terence Crawford vacates all of his 140-pound titles to move up to welterweight, as is the current expectation, the WBC is prepared with a tournament at hand to fill their potential junior welterweight vacancy.

Five men are currently in play for what would be a short tournament. Notably, Viktor Postol (29-1, 12 KO) and Regis Prograis (20-0, 17 KO) have been ordered to meet for an interim title, and the winner of that fight would then have to face the winner of a bout between Amir Imam (20-1, 17 KO) and either Jose Ramirez (20-0, 15 KO) or Mike Reed (23-0, 12 KO).

Ramirez and Reed are already scheduled to fight on November 11 as part of an ESPN tripleheader. If Reed beats Ramirez, who is currently part of the WBC’s plans, he would take his place in the four-man box-off.

Postol, 33, won a fight on September 16 in Kiev, Ukraine, returning to the ring in his home country after a long break following his July 2016 loss to Terence Crawford, which came after an October 2015 upset of Lucas Matthysse.

Prograis, 28, is a powerful fighter who’s been featured a few times on ShoBox, most recently on June 9, when he thrashed fellow prospect Joel Diaz Jr inside of two rounds.

Imam, 26, was considered a top prospect before a November 2015 loss to Adrian Granados, where he was stopped in the eighth round. He’s fought twice since, beating a pair of journeymen in July 2016 and April 2017.

Ramirez, 25, was part of the 2012 U.S. Olympic team, and has been good as a professional, though untested to date. Reed, 24, absolutely could upset him — it’s a good, dangerous fight between a pair of unbeaten prospects.

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