The WBC ordered Mbilli to face Hamzah Sheeraz for the vacant title. This was the struggle intended to turn interim status into legitimacy. Instead, negotiations stalled, the mandatory order was canceled, and the belt was reassigned without a purse bid or an in-ring decision. The organization solved the paperwork problem and moved on.
Interim titles are supposed to lead somewhere. In this case, the scheduled fight never came, and the belt moved anyway. Mbilli remained active and continued to win, but the move meant to determine his status was bypassed rather than established in the ring.
What he didn’t get was the fight that would have made clear where he actually stands in a crowded and unsettled weight class.
There were already rumblings suggesting that Sheeraz had avoided the fight. The record does not support this. The battle was discussed, the terms did not come together, and priorities shifted. This is not a refusal. It’s a reminder that sanctioning bodies can order fights, but they still rely on market realities they can’t control. When those realities win, the belt often moves anyway.
For Mbilli, the title changes his status without changing his situation. He is a champion, but without a clear first defense attached to the announcement. Names will be floated, rivals will line up, and the division will continue to feel stalled rather than finished. The belt moved faster than the structure around it.
This is not a criticism of Mbilli’s merits. An undefeated fighter who kept winning did not create this result. This is a critique of how often boxing replaces resolution with reallocation. Titles are meant to limit questions. In this case, the height widens them.
The WBC avoided a messy wallet and a public stalemate. It can be effective. It is not clear. Mbilli now carries a full title in a landscape that does not yet have a defined path, a mandated opponent, or a fight that confirms hierarchy.
For all the ceremony that comes with a green belt, this move leaves the division looking much the same as before, just with one less interim tag and the same unanswered questions underneath.
