The ramifications shift heavily depending on who wins in Boston. Should Sterling keep his belt, he maintains he’ll move up to featherweight to challenge for a second belt and leave the cuts to 135 pounds behind him. That would mean a vacant title fight between any of the top contenders, including O’Malley, Sandhagen and Sterling’s training partner, friend and mean machine Merab Dvalishvili.
However, should O’Malley win, the options are diverse. Sandhagen and Dvalishvili remain in the mix, but Cejudo and “Sugar” have beefed in person and online for years. Whether O’Malley sees that as an interesting title fight is up to him should he secure the belt.
All in all, the bantamweight title picture is as fascinating as the edges of its rankings are. Any time two 135ers step into the Octagon, it’s worth watching, whether numbers are present or not. And when two elite bantamweights square off as they have all month, it’s must-watch television.
