WBA Retains First Man to KO Deontay Wilder at No. 3 Regardless of Again-to-Again Defeats

Evgeny Romanov stays ranked quantity three by the WBA regardless of struggling back-to-back defeats, turning 40 years outdated, and failing to document a victory since 2023.

The Russian puncher, referred to as the primary man to cease Deontay Wilder, retained his lofty place within the newest WBA bridgerweight rankings regardless of a run of outcomes that will usually ship most contenders tumbling down the record.

Romanov at present sits behind Julio Cesar La Cruz and Andrew Tabiti, with champion Muslim Gadzhimagomedov and interim titleholder Vartan Arutyunyan the one names above him within the newest standings.

Profession in Reverse

Romanov’s fall has been dramatic.

After constructing a 19-0 skilled document and positioning himself for a potential world title shot, the Russian was worn out in two rounds by Zhaoxin Zhang in February 2024.

On the time, the loss regarded like a nasty night time in opposition to an unheralded opponent. What adopted solely deepened the decline.

Romanov returned in July 2025 and suffered one other loss, retiring after 5 rounds in opposition to Georgiy Yunovidov. He has not fought since.

These two defeats adopted a September 2023 victory over Wilmer Vasquez, which stays Romanov’s final win.

Now 40 years outdated and inactive for nearly a 12 months, Romanov seems additional away from a title shot than at any level since turning skilled.

Nonetheless Quantity Three

Regardless of that kind, Romanov stays ranked quantity three by the WBA.

The rating stands out much more given the state of the present bridgerweight division.

A number of positions stay vacant throughout the rankings, reflecting the continued wrestle to ascertain depth at 224 kilos. Actually, nearly half of the present WBA prime fifteen stays unfilled.

A scarcity of contenders mustn’t develop into a free go for fighters who’ve stopped profitable. Romanov has now suffered consecutive defeats, together with a knockout loss, and has spent one other prolonged interval on the sidelines.

What Is the WBA Seeing?

The difficulty just isn’t that Romanov misplaced. Fighters lose on a regular basis. The difficulty is that Romanov has not received since 2023, suffered a wipeout knockout defeat, adopted it with one other loss, after which vanished from the ring once more.

Type has to rely for one thing.

Even when the WBA is struggling to fill a whole bridgerweight rankings board resulting from an absence of curiosity within the division, conserving fighters rated just because they had been ranked earlier than just isn’t how rankings are speculated to work.

That solely creates confusion and leaves energetic contenders questioning what they have to do to maneuver forward of him.

One loss may have justified Romanov’s removing from the higher reaches of the rankings, notably given the style of the defeat.

To maintain him at quantity three after a follow-up loss and one other 9 months MIA is astonishing.

Concerning the Writer

Phil Jay is the Editor-in-Chief of World Boxing Information (WBN) and a veteran boxing reporter with 15+ years of expertise. He has interviewed world champions, damaged worldwide exclusives, and reported ringside since 2010. Learn full bio.