Wednesday in Acapulco, Mexico, produced mandatory defenses and championship situations explored at the annual WBC convention.

After news of an interim 122-pound title fight between Junto Nakatani and Ramon Cardenas for early 2027, lightweight champion William Zepeda will face Jadier Herrera on March 13 in Mexico. Carlos Adames will box Gerome Warburton in a nontitle bout on November 14, before two mandatory challengers await at middleweight.

Willy Hutchinson's vacant world title win over Joshua Buatsi last weekend has already opened the door for a series of possibilities at light heavyweight, with Canelo Alvarez openly eyeing a return to 175 pounds.

Artur Beterbiev, who became undisputed champion in October 2024, has been inactive since losing an immediate rematch to Dmitry Bivol four months later. He's retained the top spot despite Matchroom's overtures to maneuver Ben Whittaker into the position and been ordered to face The Ring's No. 5 contender Najee Lopez in an eliminator.

Here's a breakdown from each of the 17 major weight divisions, in ascending order.

Reigning champion Siyakholwa Kuse is free of his mandatory after beating Melvin Jerusalem in their May rematch and will make a voluntary defense next. It will either be against No. 2 Joey Canoy or No. 3 Beaven Sibanda.

Shokichi Iwata completed his mandatory title defense against Erik Badillo in July and is free to make an optional defense. Japanese reports suggest he will make that a three-belt unification against Rene Santiago on January 11.

In the meantime, there will be an eliminator between the No. 2 contender, Arvin Magramo (22-2-1, 12 KOs), and No. 7-rated Yuga Ozaki (10-0-1, 8 KOs).

Sergio Mendoza won the title as a late-notice challenger against Ricardo Sandoval in October and is free to make a voluntary defense. Interim champion Galal Yafai has been inactive through injury, but will reportedly return in December, while mandatory challenger Francisco Rodriguez is being evaluated for an eye condition.

Ricardo Malajika won the vacant title in late September in a mandatory fight after Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez moved up to 118 pounds. He has been granted a voluntary defense but could well find himself with a rematch should Tomoya Tsuboi face and defeat Angel Ayala as the pair have been ordered to contest a final eliminator.

Takuma Inoue won the vacant title last year and had two mandatories to satisfy. He outpointed Tenshin Nasukawa in their September rematch and that was his first obligation.

Despite lobbying for permission to engage in a title unification elsewhere next, he's due to make the second against Liverpool's Andrew Cain. The 30-year-old contender climbed off the canvas to stop Alejandro Jair Gonzalez nine rounds into a February 1 final eliminator and has been waiting since.

Reigning champion Naoya Inoue is in negotiations to fight Rodriguez. The sanctioning body has voted to order Nakatani-Cardenas as an interim title fight.

After a successful first defense against Rene Palacios, Bruce Carrington is allowed a voluntary. Cristobal Lorente will fight Mikito Nakano in Japan on January 11 in a final eliminator to decide the American's next mandatory challenger. Rey Vargas remains "champion in recess" and will be granted the next title shot when available to return.

Three-belt titleholder O'Shaquie Foster is looking to become undisputed champion and will target an immediate shot at the Anthony Cacace-Nick Ball winner (Dec. 19) for the WBA title. An undisputed fight will take precedence over all else, with interim beltholder Ryan Garner making a defense against Jazza Dickens on January 9.

Khalil El Hadri could face former unified titleholder Emanuel Navarrete in a tussle between the division's top two-rated contenders, but this pathway remains unclear. El Hadri is first expected to return in December.

William Zepeda has agreed terms to fight interim champion Jaider Herrera on March 13 in Mexico, site TBD to satisfy his mandatory defense.

Dalton Smith just completed his mandatory defense against Alberto Puello and is free to make a voluntary, after which time he will be ordered to fight interim titlist Isaac Cruz. No. 1 contender Sandor Martin requested an eliminator against Cruz, though "Pitbull" is already preparing for another bout before the year ends.

Having scored a second-round stoppage of mandatory challenger Conor Benn in September, Ryan Garcia is free to make a voluntary defense. In the meantime, Souleymane Cissokho will fight Puello for the interim title and Arnold Barboza-Oscar Duarte is set for Jan. 23 with the winner to then fight Samuel Molina in another eliminator.

Sebastian Fundora just fulfilled his mandatory in Ermal Hadribeaj and is looking to an undisputed fight with the Jaron Ennis-Josh Kelly winner, announced for February 24.

Golden Boy's new signing Brandon Adams will feature on the Jan. 23 card, either for a newly vacant interim belt after Ortiz's weight move or a semifinal eliminator.

Hadribeaj's advisor Ahmet Oner said his fighter would be ready to challenge Adams on that date, but this timeline remains unclear given the Albanian will have been issued a medical suspension after his knockout loss.

After his Zuffa promotional debut this week in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Adames will first face long-standing mandatory challenger Meiriim Nursultanov, then interim beltholder Jesus Ramos as his two mandatories. Vergil Ortiz, previously interim champion at 154 pounds, will face Keith Thurman on Dec. 5.

Alvarez is expected to return around March, the last of his four-fight deal with Turki Alalshikh and Riyadh Season. Interim beltholder Lester Martinez had a request to be mandated rejected, while newly inserted top contender Diego Pacheco will defend that status against Darius Fulghum on November 14.

Matchroom's attempts to move Whittaker into the No. 1 spot were rejected, with Beterbiev remaining there despite almost two years' inactivity. Original plans involved a four-man elimination tournament including the pair, as well as Imam Khataev and Radivoje Kalajdzic. The sanctioning body has issued Hutchinson with two mandatories to fulfill: Whittaker first and the winner of Beterbiev-Lopez afterwards.

Michal Cieslak-David Benavidez is already on tap for a three-belt unification on December 5, with Jai Opetaia mandatory to fight the winner. The Ring champion vacated his WBA "regular" title and is the division's No. 2 contender behind Benavidez at the time of writing.

Agit Kabayel will make his first title defense against Nelson Hysa on November 28, after which time he will seek unification bouts. In the meantime, the sanctioning body will settle on a mandatory challenger.

At featherweight, the biggest winner is new entrant Albert Gonzalez who slots in at No. 3 and straight to an eliminator against No. 2 contender Sebastian Hernandez.

The 24-year-old contender rises into prominence following his second-round stoppage of former 130-pound title challenger Edward Vazquez on the October 24 card topped by Foster-Navarrete.

Dzmitry Asanau (14-0, 7 KOs) rises three spots to No. 1 at lightweight. The Ring's No. 10 contender beat stablemate Luis Santana to stay unbeaten on the Osleys Iglesias-Oliver Zaren undercard last month.

Puello, after a split-decision defeat by Dalton Smith last month, arrives No. 3 at welterweight. The steady rebuild continues for former WBO title challenger Jin Sasaki, who returns to the top-10 rankings.

Former unified champion Xander Zayas and Vergil Ortiz drop out at 154 pounds and join the middleweight picture before their anticipated divisional debuts. Ortiz sits No. 2 at 160 pounds, while Zayas enters at No. 8.

Umar Dzambekov is No. 6 at 175 pounds after his brutal fourth-round stoppage of Zach Parker, while Cheavon Clarke enters the cruiserweight class at No. 3 following a big main event win over former rival Chris Billam-Smith.

Lawrence Okolie is back top of the heavyweight rankings, cleared of intentional wrongdoing by the WBC following an adverse finding for GHRP-2 and an M8 metabolite before his proposed Tony Yoka fight in April.