The WBC Board of Governors approved Carlos Adames’ request to take an over-the-weight, non-title bout on November 17. It attached a condition that makes the fight dangerous for him.
If Adames loses, the WBC middleweight title is declared vacant. He will not even be in the division’s title picture.
If he wins, he must immediately face mandatory challenger Meiirim Nursultanov, and the winner of that fight then meets interim champion Jesus Ramos Jr.
Why the WBC Did It This Way
Sanctioning bodies normally handle this one of two ways. They approve the non-title fight and let the champion carry on, or they refuse and order the mandatory. The WBC did something in between.
The logic is reasonable enough. A champion who wants to compete above the weight limit is choosing not to defend his title, so the organization is making him post a bond. Win and you keep everything. Lose and you forfeit the thing you declined to defend.
Adames’ mandatory obligations will be reviewed at the WBC annual convention in Acapulco from November 8 to 13, which is nine days before the fight.
No WBC official was quoted in the reporting of the ruling.
Nobody Knows Who He Is Fighting
That is the strangest part. No opponent, no agreed weight and no venue have been named for November 17. The Ring reports that IBF super middleweight champion Osleys Iglesias is not the opponent.
A champion has been granted permission to risk his title against an unnamed man at an unnamed weight in an unnamed building, a month out. That is a negotiation being conducted in public with the sanctioning paperwork filed first.
Who Adames Is
Adames, 32, is a Dominican from Comendador with a record of 25-1-1 and 18 knockouts. He won the WBC interim middleweight title by knockout over Juan Macias Montiel in October 2022 and was elevated to full champion in May 2024 after Jermall Charlo was stripped.
Since then: a split draw with Hamzah Sheeraz in Riyadh in February 2025, retaining, and a unanimous decision over Austin Williams in Orlando in March 2026, dropping Williams in the second round. The Ring rates him the No. 1 middleweight in the world.
Nursultanov is 33 and 20-0 with 11 knockouts. Ramos is 24-1 with 19 knockouts.
The Division Is Jammed Because of an Illness
Nursultanov and Ramos were supposed to fight on September 19 at Pechanga Arena in San Diego, with the winner getting a mandated shot at Adames. Ramos was hospitalized with an illness one day before weigh-ins and the bout was cancelled.
That cancellation is why there are now three fights stacked behind one champion and why the WBC had to invent a conditional ruling to keep the queue moving.
Dana White Now Controls Three Belts at 160
Adames signed a multi-fight deal with Zuffa Boxing announced Tuesday.
“This is a new chapter in my career, and I’m here to make history,” Adames said in the release. “Zuffa Boxing is building something special, and I want to be part of it.”
That gives Zuffa three of the four middleweight beltholders. Aaron McKenna holds the IBF title at 21-0 with 10 knockouts and is The Ring’s No. 3 middleweight. Denzel Bentley holds the WBO belt at 22-3-1 with 18 knockouts and makes his Zuffa debut against Shane Mosley Jr. on November 7 at Copper Box Arena in London.
So the organization that just acquired the No. 1 middleweight in the world is also the organization whose title picture now depends on an unnamed November 17 opponent. Zuffa has every incentive to make that a safe night.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.