Xu Can


Xu Can is a Chinese professional boxer who held the World Boxing Association featherweight title from 2019 to 2021.

Professional career

Early career

Xu turned professional in 2013. His first 14 fights ended in decision, of which he was victorious in 12 of them. In his 15th fight on October 3, 2017, he recorded his first stoppage win against former WBA super bantamweight champion Nehomar Cermeño, prevailing via seventh-round corner retirement. The win saw Xu capture the vacant WBA International featherweight title.

WBA (Regular) featherweight champion

Xu vs. Rojas

Xu was rewarded for his twelve fight winning streak with the opportunity to challenge the reigning WBA featherweight champion Jesús Rojas. The bout was scheduled for the undercard of the Jaime Munguia and Takeshi Inoue WBO super-welterweight title fight, which took place at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, on January 26, 2019, and was broadcast by DAZN and Canal Space. Xu won the fight, which BoxingScene dubbed an early candidate for "Fight of the Year", by unanimous decision. He was awarded scorecards of 116–112, 117–111 and 118–110. Both fighters threw a combined 2574 strikes total, with Xu landing 380 and Rojas 388 total punches. Xu became only the third Chinese world boxing champion, after Xiong Chaozhong and Zou Shiming.

Xu vs. Kubo

Xu made his first title defense against the former WBA Regular Super Bantamweight champion Shun Kubo on May 26, 2019, at the Fuzhou Sports Center Gymnasium in his native Fuzhou, Jiangxi. He successfully retained his title with a sixth-round technical knockout of Kubo. Xu first knocked Kubo down near the end of the third round, before stopping the Japanese challenger with a flurry of punches at the 1:16 minute mark of the sixth round.

Xu vs. Robles III

In his next title defense, Xu defeated Manny Robles III by unanimous decision, with scores of 120–108, 119–109, 118–110, on November 23.

Failed Warrington negotiations

Talks were held in 2020 and early 2021 to try to make Xu's third defense of his title against the IBF champion at the time, Josh Warrington. However, the fight was postponed due to disagreements from both sides: Xu wanted fans present at the fight, and Warrington refused to leave the United Kingdom to fight on Chinese soil. The chances of Xu and Warrington ever fighting were dramatically reduced when Warrington subsequently vacated his IBF title and then lost to the unheralded Mauricio Lara in February 2021, when he was sensationally knocked out by Lara in an upset defeat.

Xu vs. Wood

On July 6, 2021, it was announced that Xu would be defending his WBA title against British featherweight champion Leigh Wood in Brentwood, England on July 31 as part of Matchroom's Fight Camp. Despite being a -350 favorite, Xu was outboxed during periods of the fight, and suffered an upset defeat via twelfth-round technical knockout.

Post-title career

Xu would next return to the ring on October 7, 2022 to face Brandon Leon Benitez in Plant City, Florida. Xu suffered his second consecutive loss, via split decision; one judge scored the bout 97–93 in Xu's favor, but he was overruled by the other two judges who both scored the bout 96–94 for Benitez.

Personal life

Xu was born in Fuzhou, Jiangxi, and has since moved his residence to Beijing. His parents were pastry-makers, and he was encouraged by his father to pursue a career in boxing. When Xu dropped out of junior high school during his third year, he joined China's only professional boxing club at the time, named Zhongwei, in Kunming, Yunnan where he began training as a boxer.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
24Win20–4Jhonatan ArenasTKO9, Dec 14, 2024Won vacant IBO International junior lightweight title
23Win19–4Asad Asif Khan5, Dec 31, 2023
22Loss18–4Brandon Leon BenitezSD10Oct 7, 2022
21Loss18–3Leigh WoodTKO12, 2:43Jul 31, 2021Lost WBA featherweight title
20Win18–2Manny Robles IIIUD12Nov 23, 2019Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, Indio, California, U.S.Retained WBA featherweight title
19Win17–2Shun KuboTKO6, 1:16May 26, 2019Fuzhou Sports Center Gymnasium, Fuzhou, Jiangxi, ChinaRetained WBA featherweight title
18Win16–2Jesús RojasUD12Jan 26, 2019Toyota Center, Houston, Texas, U.S.Won WBA featherweight title
17Win15–2Enrique BernacheSD8Sep 13, 2018The Joint, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
16Win14–2Jelbirt Gomera7, 2:22Jul 27, 2018Qingdao Guosen Gymnasium, Qingdao, China
15Win13–2Nehomar Cermeño7, 3:00Oct 3, 2017Gym of Datong University, Datong, ChinaWon WBA International featherweight title
14Win12–2Jack AsisUD12May 7, 2017Shaanxi Normal University Stadium, Xi'an, ChinaRetained WBA International super-featherweight title
13Win11–2Spicy MatsushitaUD12Dec 17, 2016Zhejiang University Stadium, Hangzhou, ChinaWon vacant WBA International super-featherweight title
12Win10–2Ramiro BlancoUD12Sep 30, 2016Wenzhou Gymnasium, Wenzhou, ChinaRetained WBA International super-featherweight title
11Win9–2Corey McConnellUD12Jun 24, 2016Capital Indoor Stadium, Beijing, ChinaRetained WBA Oceania and WBA International super-featherweight titles
10Win8–2Isaias Santos SampaioUD12Feb 12, 2016Olympic Park Arena, Luzhou, ChinaRetained WBA Oceania super-featherweight title;
Won vacant WBA International super-featherweight title
9Win7–2Chaiyong ChanthahongUD10Sep 18, 2015Yageer Gymnasium, Ningbo, ChinaWon WBA Oceania super-featherweight title
8Win6–2Kris GeorgeUD10Jun 27, 2015Rumours International, Toowoomba, AustraliaWon WBA Oceania super-lightweight title
7Win5–2Hurricane FutaUD6May 8, 2015EXPO Garden Hotel, Kunming, China
6Win4–2Josh BaillieMD6Feb 22, 2015Wenshan, China
5Loss3–2Bao Dong6Sep 8, 2014World Horti-Expo Garden, Kunming, China
4Win3–1Hongpeng ZhangUD4Aug 23, 2014Expo Garden Hotel, Kunming, China
3Loss2–1Neeraj Goyat4Jun 7, 2014World Horti-Expo Garden, Kunming, China
2Win2–0Kota HamamotoUD4Apr 13, 2014Sangyo Hall, Kanazawa, Japan
1Win1–0Tang Yuan Yuan4Nov 16, 2013Yu Hang Gymnasium, Hangzhou, China