Welsh amateur Levi Batchelor has vacated his Cage Warriors Academy Wales bantamweight title. The 21-year-old announced, via his social channels, that he would be making a move to featherweight for the foreseeable future.
Becoming the Champion
The Shore MMA product won the title in December 2021 after an impressive victory against Ross McGowan. He would then go on to defend his belt against Gabriel Gomez in March and move to 5-0.
After proving himself to be one of the best bantamweights on the amateur scene, he decided he wanted to challenge himself.
In June of this year, he challenged Ieuan Mackenzie for the featherweight title in Ebbw Vale. Current champion, Mackenzie, was able to get the job done on the night, and Levi picked up his first loss as a fighter.
Vacating His Title
Since then, there has been no announcements about when “Young Money” would return to the cage. Until now. In posts across his social channels, he announced he would be remaining at 145lbs for the rest of his amateur career.
“With nearly all top UK shows being same-day weigh-ins at the amateur level, it’s time for a changing of the guard. It’s been fun and something no one can ever take away from me, but my team and I have decided it’s time to vacate the bantamweight CWAW belt.
“No one can ever say I didn’t fight whoever was put in front of me. I called for the best fighters throughout the UK and Europe, not just Wales, but there is now plenty of young prospects who deserve the chance to also call themselves the champ.
“My full focus is now at featherweight. I’ve fell short at this weight and don’t want no easy ride, so now we have the challenges and opportunity to prove to myself and my team that the faith they have put in me was the right decision.”
He finishes by thanking his team and supporters for their support, along with the words, “same dream, different division”. Right at the end, he also states he will return to bantamweight when he makes the switch to professional fighting.
With this news in mind and with CWAW ready to announce the line-up of their October card, it’s likely that a vacant bantamweight title bout could be on the cards.
Not only that, but we can also presume that Levi will return to action on the same card – at featherweight.
Who else is excited to see what damage Levi Batchelor can cause at featherweight? Let us know!
Featured image credits to Cage Warriors Academy Wales
