If any fighter has earned a break in 2026, it's Joey Canoy.
In March he was booked for a WBC eliminator against Siyakholwa Kuse in South Africa.
Scrapped. Kuse got a title shot instead.
In June he was three days away from challenging Oscar Collazo for the WBO and WBA belts in California.
Scrapped again. No US visa.
Two world-level fights. Two times he packed his bags for nothing.
So what did the "Babyface" from General Santos do ?
Stayed busy. Won at home in March. Won again in October.
And this week, at the WBC convention in Acapulco, his name came up again — Kuse, now the WBC strawweight champion, will defend against… Joey Canoy.
Funny how it works. The man he was meant to fight in an eliminator is now the man holding the belt.
The WBC is calling it a voluntary defence. Canoy has been their No. 1 contender this year. We'll let you decide what that means !
Here's the thing — Canoy is 33, a southpaw, and he's been around the block. He beat Melvin Jerusalem back in 2017, before Jerusalem became a two-time world champion. He took the WBC International title off Vietnam's Minh Phat Sam in General Santos last year.
But he's come up short in South Africa three times before.
Kuse is 23, and he took the green belt off Jerusalem in front of his own people at Emperors Palace in May.
Right now the Philippines has ONE world champion — Pedro Taduran.
Miel Fajardo and Zyvyr Medecillo get their shots in Tokyo on 26 November.
Canoy could make it a lot more than one.
Date and venue still to come. Let's just hope this time somebody sorts the paperwork early !!
🇿🇦 SIYAKHOLWA KUSE (10-3-1, 4 KOs) vs JOEY CANOY (26-5-2, 15 KOs) 🇵🇭
🥊 WBC Strawweight World Championship
📅 Date and venue TBA
Stay tuned !
Sources:
WBC (11 Nov 2026) — https://wbcboxing.com/en/wbc-mandatories-in-acapulco-decisions-across-all-18-divisions/
Fightnews, Bob Newman (11 Nov 2026) — https://fightnews.com/wbc-convention-day-3-mandatory-defenses-and-more/200179
SunStar Cebu (Mar 2026) — https://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/canoy-wins-over-balidio
The Ring, Anson Wainwright (19 Jan 2026) — https://www.ringmagazine.com/news/siyakholwa-kuse-vs-joey-canoy-set-for-wbc-strawweight-eliminator-2Ws7TFgYCc7TD0ZJhoTHA0
The Ring (June 2026) — https://www.ringmagazine.com/news/collazo-to-face-valdez-visa-issue-costs-canoy-105-pound-title-fight-41moTVkJYeXAV9utzTFQHF
Cebu Daily News (June 2026) — https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/738920/canoy-collazo-world-title-showdown-cancelled
Wikipedia, Joey Canoy — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joey_Canoy
Wikipedia, Siyakholwa Kuse — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siyakholwa_Kuse
Rappler (8 Nov 2026) — https://www.rappler.com/people/athletes/boxing-results-pedro-taduran-brandon-moreno-world-title-november-7-2026/
Daily Tribune (11 Nov 2026) — https://tribune.net.ph/2026/11/10/fajardo-medecillo-step-on-brakes
Despite suffering narrow losses, Ben Ligas and Jules Victoriano produced next level performances in the belt fights in Vietnam last night.
Ligas faced the vastly experienced Uzbek, the much revered "mini Tyson " Olimjon Nazarov. This was quality boxing from both, with "the Sniper" bringing the cleaner punches, but perhaps lacking the aggression of Nazarov, who looked constantly keen for work. This was a hard match to score, as neither fighter was particularly dominant in a see sawing affair, and the body shot in the 11th where Ligas took a knee was perhaps the only real difference.
Dinh Hong Quan is physically indomitable, and with his height and reach, this improving Vietnam boxer is a task for anybody. It was anticipated that Jules Victoriano would give him his toughest test to date, and he definitely didn't disappoint !
This was a great fight, and is probably best viewed in two parts. Victoriano boxed beautifully in the early rounds, but despite landing nice shots, the Vietnam champ kept stealing rounds with some heavier and more direct landed shots. Quan also "appeared" more dominant, more frequently backing Victoriano up and putting him on to combos.
Going into the second half of the fight, Victoriano definitely lifted his output and accuracy, and even gave the Vietnam opponent a couple of "dig deep" moments !
This was an exciting and fantastic match up, that very easily could have been scored a draw, it was that evenly contested! There is no doubt that Dinh Hong Quan produced the best performance of his career last night, and this was really needed because of the beautiful boxing skills displayed by Jules Victoriano.
VSP would love to see these two great young fighters rematch at a later date, maybe on a bigger stage!
Post event, all smiles, and pictured are Coach Toto Laurente, Ben Ligas, VSP Vietnam boss Lim Song, and Jules Victoriano. Great job by all !
