Featherweight (126 pounds)
Rafael Espinoza (28-0, 24 KO), Bruce Carrington (17-0, 10 KO), Angelo Leo (26-1, 12 KO), and Brandon Figueroa (27-2-1, 20 KO) are the four champions in this intriguing division.
The newest champion at featherweight is Figueroa, who won his version of the title on February 7 by traveling to Liverpool, England, and knocking out hometown hero Nick Ball (23-1-1, 13 KO) in the twelfth round.
Espinoza, at 6’ 1” with a 74-inch reach, is the top champion in the eyes of many. He made his mark at featherweight by upsetting heralded Olympian Robeisy Ramírez and then doing it a second time.
Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington is the youngest and most loquacious current champion. He became the WBC featherweight champion by knocking out Carlos Castro on the undercard of Stevenson-Lopez.
Angelo Leo defeated Luis Alberto Lopez to earn a championship in a second weight class. He successfully defended the belt last May against Tomoki Kameda, winning via majority decision. Leo will make his second defense against IBF mandatory challenger Ra’eese Aleem (23-1, 12 KO).
Hopefully, some of these featherweight champions can start fighting each other to prove who the top guy at 126 pounds is. It seems like that is beginning to happen one weight class up.
Super Featherweight (130 pounds)
Emmanuel Navarette (39-2-1, 32 KO) and Eduardo “Sugar” Nunez (29-1, 27 KO) face off in a Mexican super featherweight unification fight on February 28th. Navarrete’s WBO and Nunez’s IBF titles will be on the line when the two men compete in Glendale, Arizona.
The other two champions at 130 pounds are Jazza Dickens (36-5, 15 KO) and O’Shaquie Foster (24-3, 12 KO). Dickens will face Anthony Cacace (24-1, 8 KO) in Dublin on March 14th. Cacace, Ireland’s first-ever super featherweight world champion, will look to become a two-time champion against Dickens.
As for Foster, he has his eye on the winner of Saturday night’s Navarette-Nunez unification fight. Foster recently told DAZN News, “It’d be one of my biggest wishes of this year. It’d be a great opportunity to fight the winner of either one of them guys. It’d be three belts on the line. Finally, we’ll have some motion at 130 [pounds].”
After Saturday night, the outlook of the 130-pound division will be a lot clearer. At lightweight, it could be quite a while longer than that.
Lightweight (135 pounds)
To put it simply, this division is in a state of flux. The top two fighters in most lightweight rankings will likely never fight at lightweight again, with Shakur Stevenson moving up to 140 pounds and beyond, and Gervonta Davis doing whatever he is doing with his life.
Abdullah Mason (20-0, 17 KO) and Raymond Muratalla (24-0, 17 KO) are the two official champions in this division. Mason, just 21 years old, defeated Sam Noakes in a thriller to win the vacant WBO championship.
An interesting name in this division is Floyd Schofield (19-0, 13 KO). Schofield is talented, but has been snakebitten before big fight opportunities. He had to pull out of fights with JoJo Diaz and Shakur Stevenson with a broken wrist and an illness, respectively. According to reports, Schofield will face Lucas Bahdi (20-0, 15 KO) for the vacant WBA version of the lightweight championship.
The IBF has ordered Albert Bell (28-0, 9 KO) and Andy Cruz (6-1, 3 KO) to face off in a title eliminator bout, with the winner getting a title shot. Cruz, a decorated amateur, suffered his first professional defeat in his last fight against Muratalla but made a good account of himself.
A couple of guys who could factor into the championship picture at lightweight are Noakes, who looked great against Mason in a losing effort, as well as William Zepeda (33-1, 27 KO), the pressure fighter whose only loss came to Shakur Stevenson.
Sometimes, the lower weight classes can get lost in the shuffle without a big name to generate awareness. But the featherweight, super featherweight, and lightweight divisions are full of talent and contain compelling fights that fans would enjoy.
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