--- title: "Welterweight boxing rankings before Romero vs Lopez and Garcia vs Benn" --- # Welterweight boxing rankings before Romero vs Lopez and Garcia vs Benn The four sanctioning bodies keep each other's 147-pound champions off their numbered lists, so the remaining welterweight order barely overlaps before two title fights. ## Welterweight has more than one champion The next two major welterweight title fights look straightforward until you put the five ranking lists next to each other. [Rolando Romero](/boxer/rolando-romero) defends against [Teofimo Lopez](/boxer/teofimo-lopez) on 22 August. [Ryan Garcia](/boxer/ryan-garcia) faces [Conor Benn](/boxer/conor-benn) on 12 September. Both are billed as world title fights at 147 pounds. Winning either one still leaves the rest of the division's titles untouched. Box-Rank's latest [welterweight boxing rankings](/rankings/welterweight) show five named titleholders across the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO. Ring's championship is vacant. A world champion on one of those four sanctioning bodies does not appear as a numbered contender on the other three. That is why Romero, Garcia, [Liam Paro](/boxer/liam-paro) and [Devin Haney](/boxer/devin-haney) are missing from each other's contender tables. Ring is an editorial rating, not a sanctioning body, so it can still rank those men as fighters. With its welterweight championship vacant, Ring currently has Haney at number one, [Jack Catterall](/boxer/jack-catterall) at number three, Garcia at number five and Paro at number ten. Romero is not in that ten. The names that can show up on every list are the boxers who do not hold a current WBA, WBC, IBF or WBO welterweight title. Only three of those names appear in all five numbered fields. ## The two confirmed fights [PBC's official event page](https://www.premierboxingchampions.com/fight-night-august-22-2026) lists Romero versus Lopez for the WBA welterweight title at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on 22 August. The WBA's July ratings identify Romero as Super Champion, Catterall as World Champion and Lopez as the number six contender. The WBA already has more than one champion, and its highest numbered contender is not getting this shot. Lopez can fight for the title from number six, while sitting outside Ring's current welterweight top ten. He is also the WBO's number two, which is allowed because he is not a champion. The July list still has Curiel at number one. Garcia versus Benn is simpler inside the WBC. [Paramount's official announcement](https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/paramount-plus/releases/?view=113052-ryan-garcia-set-to-defend-world-title-against-conor-benn-in-paramount-global-bout-at-t-mobile-arena-on-september-12-over-mexican-independence-day-week) confirms that Garcia will defend against Benn at the same Las Vegas venue on 12 September. The [WBC welterweight list](/rankings/org/wbc/welterweight) has Garcia as champion and Benn at number one. ## Garcia versus Benn looks different on the other lists Benn is a contender, so every organisation can rank him. They do not agree. - The WBA rates Benn at number two - The latest IBF and WBO lists do not include Benn in their top 15 - Ring's top ten also omits Benn Garcia is the WBC champion, so the WBA, IBF and WBO do not carry him as a numbered contender. Ring rates him at number five because its own championship is vacant. "Number one contender" only makes sense with the organisation named. Benn is the WBC's first contender and the WBA's second. On the IBF, WBO and Ring lists, he is outside the published field. ## Five lists agree on only three contenders A shared name across all five numbered lists has to be someone without a current WBA, WBC, IBF or WBO welterweight title. As of 16 August 2026, only three contenders meet that test. - **[Brian Norman Jr](/boxer/brian-norman-jr):** WBO number one, Ring number two, WBC number three, IBF number six and WBA number seven - **[Richardson Hitchins](/boxer/richardson-hitchins):** IBF and WBO number three, WBA and WBC number four, and Ring number nine - **[Raul Curiel](/boxer/raul-curiel):** WBA number one, WBC number two, Ring number seven, WBO number 11 and IBF number 12 Curiel's spread runs from first to twelfth: an 11-place disagreement about a boxer every organisation still includes. Norman places between first and seventh. Hitchins sits between third and ninth. Those repeated names are the closest thing the five bodies have to a shared elite among available contenders. The next title shot can still go to someone else. ## The WBO route has its own complication Haney holds the WBO title, which is why he is absent from the WBA, WBC and IBF numbered tables. Ring has him at number one. The WBO's [formal purse-bid order](https://wboboxing.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/260720-CC-PB-Order-HaneyDavis-1-1.pdf), dated 20 July, concerned a mandatory defence against [Keyshawn Davis](/boxer/keyshawn-davis). Monthly rankings are not a fixture list. Mandatory status, negotiation orders and purse bids can move a title fight ahead of the printed positions. The archive records what each list said. Governing-body orders explain what may happen next. ## What the August fight can change Romero versus Lopez can resolve one WBA belt without resolving the WBA's split champion picture. The WBA champion stays off the WBC, IBF and WBO numbered tables. If Lopez wins, he would also leave the WBO numbered list, where he is currently second. Garcia versus Benn can settle the WBC title the same way. The WBC champion will not appear as a contender on the other three sanctioning lists. If Benn wins, that includes coming off the WBA numbered table, where he is currently second. Ring can keep rating both men while its championship is vacant. Haney's WBO route remains separate. After each fight, check which champion or contender moved inside each organisation, whether a new champion disappeared from the other sanctioning numbered lists, and whether a title order followed the monthly rankings or skipped them. Box-Rank keeps those answers attached to the original lists. Check the live [combined welterweight rankings](/rankings/welterweight), compare the [WBA](/rankings/org/wba/welterweight), [WBC](/rankings/org/wbc/welterweight), [IBF](/rankings/org/ibf/welterweight), [WBO](/rankings/org/wbo/welterweight) and [Ring](/rankings/org/ring/welterweight) tables, then come back after the fights to see which organisations move first. ## Related - [Welterweight boxing rankings](https://box-rank.com/rankings/welterweight) - [WBC welterweight rankings](https://box-rank.com/rankings/org/wbc/welterweight) - [WBA welterweight rankings](https://box-rank.com/rankings/org/wba/welterweight) - [WBO welterweight rankings](https://box-rank.com/rankings/org/wbo/welterweight) - [Ring welterweight ratings](https://box-rank.com/rankings/org/ring/welterweight) - [Welterweight ranking movements](https://box-rank.com/ranking-movements/welterweight) --- HTML: https://box-rank.com/blog/welterweight-boxing-rankings-romero-lopez-garcia-benn-2026 Markdown: https://box-rank.com/blog/welterweight-boxing-rankings-romero-lopez-garcia-benn-2026.md