The WBA Championships Committee has ordered a super bantamweight eliminator bout between Murodjon Akhmadaliev and Kevin Gonzalez. Akhmadaliev, a former world champion and current #2 ranked fighter, was initially, he was supposed to face Tomoki Kameda, who occupied the #1 place in the rankings, but the Kameda decided to move up in weight and informed the WBA about it. Therefore, the committee chose the next best available contender, which in this case was the Gonzalez.

The negotiation period granted to Akhmadaliev and Gonzalez is 30 days from the moment the communication was sent. If no agreement is reached within this period or if either party refuses to sign the bout, the committee may call for purse bid with a 50% purse split for each fighters.

Marlon Tapales is the current WBA champion of the division and is expected to meet Naoya Inoue in a unification fight. The winner between Akhamadaliev and Gonzalez will be the next mandatory challenger for the WBA 122-pound world title.