BANGKOK, Thailand — Wednesday at the annual WBC convention, the sanctioning body announced mandatories and various situations across its 18 weight classes.

Among the big headlines was president Mauricio Sulaiman confirming Subriel Matias-Dalton Smith will go ahead as planned on January 10, despite the junior welterweight champion failing a VADA test for Ostarine last month.

Last week, the New York State Athletic Commission told The Ring their title fight could proceed after Matias' A-sample was measured at 0.085 ng/ml, below the threshold, as they investigated matters further.

Matias will be placed on a year-long probation and undergo further testing, at his own expense between now and next month, while Sulaiman remained confident the positive test was a consequence of contaminated supplements given such a low reading.

The probation doesn't stop him from making the first defence of his second championship reign against Sheffield's Smith at Brooklyn's Barclays Center with the winner then ordered to face mandatory challenger Alberto Puello.

Oleksandr Usyk has asked for the right to make a voluntary defense.

Elsewhere, interim champion Agit Kabayel will end almost a year-long layoff when facing No. 20 contender Damian Knyba in Oberhausen, Germany on January 10.

No. 1 contender Lawrence Okolie was called to face promotional stablemate Moses Itauma in a final eliminator.

Badou Jack and Noel Mikaelian will rematch for Jack's title on December 13.

Interim titleholder Michal Cieslak tried to fight highly-rated Yamil Peralta without success and will next face the Jack-Mikaelian winner, while longtime contender Ryan Rozicki will be the second mandatory.

As he announced after his seventh-round stoppage win over Anthony Yarde, David Benavidez plans on moving up to cruiserweight, facing WBA/WBO titleholder Gilberto Ramirez in May 2026. However, he requested he remain the champion until after that fight.

Following some discussion, it was decided that former WBO interim beltholder Joshua Buatsi and Ben Whittaker will meet in a final title eliminator.

In the day's biggest news, Terence Crawford was stripped for failing to pay sanctioning fees for his last two fights.

As such, interim champion Christian Mbilli has been mandated to box Hamzah Sheeraz for the vacant title while Luka Plantic will face either Jaime Munguia or Lester Martinez in an eliminator.

Reigning champion Carlos Adames and Meiirim Nursultanov have agreed terms to meet early next year, while Jesus Ramos and Shane Mosley Jr. will fight for the interim belt as part of the Isaac Cruz-Lamont Roach undercard come Saturday.

After recovering from an injury which saw their original Oct. 25 date shelved, defending champion Sebastian Fundora will face Keith Thurman in early 2026 - a date and venue to be confirmed in due course.

Interim champion Vergil Ortiz and Jaron "Boots" Ennis are edging closer to a deal, one expected to be consummated next week.

No. 1-rated contender Bakary Samake, who won and defended a minor WBC title over the past year, will face Ermal Hadribeaj in an eliminator.

As reported by The Ring's Mike Coppinger, Mario Barrios will make the third defense of his WBC crown against Ryan Garcia in the first quarter of 2026.

Fresh from avenging defeat by Chris Eubank Jr. last month, Conor Benn has been inserted as the winner's mandatory, while president Mauricio Sulaiman promised Souleymane Cissokho (18-0, 9 KOs) he would look into finding him a career-advancing fight.

Three-division world champion Shakur Stevenson will go up to junior welterweight and face Ring, WBO champion Teofimo Lopez on January 31, after which The Ring's No. 8 pound-for-pound operator will have 15 days to decide where he campaigns next.

Jadier Herrera and Ricardo Nunez will contest the interim title on the Kabayel-Knyba undercard a few weeks earlier.

As part of the aforementioned Cruz-Roach bill, O'Shaquie Foster will defend his 130-pound title against Stephen Fulton on Saturday.

Mark Magsayo and Michael Magnesi are scheduled to meet on January 31 in an eliminator.

Much like Stevenson, Fulton will have to decide which weight class he will remain at after boxing Foster in the division above.

Interim champion Bruce Carrington will face Carlos Castro on January 31, while Nathaniel Collins and Cristobal Llorente are in talks for a rematch, a final eliminator.

The Ring's No. 3 pound-for-pound star Naoya Inoue will defend his undisputed titles against David Picasso on December 27.

If he and No. 7 pound-for-pound compatriot Junto Nakatani emerge victorious as expected on the Ring V bill, a superfight between the pair in May is planned for Japan.

An eliminator between Marlon Tapales and Bryan Mercado was also agreed upon.

Fresh from his savvy display to beat Tenshin Nasukawa last month, newly minted world champion Takuma Inoue can make a voluntary defense as he begins his second title reign.

Talks are on going to match Juan Francisco Estrada and Nasukawa in an eliminator, while Andrew Cain and Alejandro Jair Gonzalez will meet on February 6 in an eliminator.

Ring and unified champion Jesse Rodriguez added the WBA crown to his growing mantle with a 10th-round stoppage win over Fernando Martinez and is assessing his options.

Roman Gonzalez recently underwent surgery and it wasn't known how long this would prevent him from fighting.

In an effort to keep things moving, the top two contenders — Tomoya Tsuboi and Ricardo Malajika — were asked to discuss potentially boxing in an eliminator.

However with several unknown factors, including Rodriguez's future and Gonzalez's status, it could be upgraded for the interim title.

Ricardo Sandoval and interim titleholder Galal Yafai will have interim fights before facing one another in 2026.

No. 7 contender Thananchai Charunphak will face the highest available challenger in an eliminator, though asked for a fight with Yafai.

Carlos Canizales was made champion in recess last week because of the current situation in Venezuela preventing him from travelling to make his slated title defense on December 4.

To keep the division active in the meantime, Thammanoon Niyomtrong will face late-notice replacement Junior Zarate on Friday for the world title, with Erik Badillo mandatory for this week's victor.

Melvin Jerusalem recently defended his title with a hard-fought points win over Siyakholwa Kuse and can make a voluntary defense as he seeks unification options again.

In the meantime, his compatriot Joey Canoy and Kuse are slated to box a final eliminator.

Evergreen interim champion Krzysztof Wlodarczyk requested to fight the winner as the first mandatory. Meanwhile, Andrew Tabiti-Kris Terzievski is another eliminator tabbed that will produce the secondary mandatory.