Russell has said in recent interviews that he wants the big fights and will move up to find them at this point in his career. This means the WBC title will likely be vacant soon and I wanted to talk about who will likely fight for it.
Jessie Magdaleno is number 2 in the WBC so he would likely fight for it and he also has the backing of top rank so won’t get bullied away from his spot. Magdaleno is a former champ in the division below and so would be trying to become a two division champ.
Next up in the rankings is Kid Galahad who had a good win this weekend over Claudio Marrero in an IBF eliminator but would still likely fight for the vacant WBC if he doesn’t get taken out the rankings.
Next up is Claudio Marrero who will move further down the rankings after losing so it won’t be him.
The last real potential guy is Lerato Dlamini who is a featherweight out of South Africa. He’s struggled with some domestic level guys but has a few good wins if not elite level. I think everyone else i’ve mentioned would beat him but he might get the shot if Galahad or Magdaleno pull out
