Terence Crawford has been stripped of his super middleweight title on Wednesday for failing to pay sanctioning body fees following his unanimous decision win against Canelo Alvarez in September, the World Boxing Council WBC .
At the 63rd annual WBC Boxing Convention in Bangkok, Thailand, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman said Crawford owed nearly $300,000 in fees following his super fight in Las Vegas.
Hours after the development sent shockwaves around the sport, Crawford took to social media and went scorched earth on Sulaiman and the sanctioning body, complete with many expletives.
“I saw Mauricio had a lot to say about me not paying him $300,000, plus another $100,000-something for sanctioning fees. And he said that I didn’t apologize,” Crawford said on Instagram Live.
“Like who the … do you think I am? Boy, you better slap … yourself. I ain’t paying your ass …. What the … are you talking about? What makes you so better than any of the other sanctioning bodies? Huh? Answer that question. The WBA, WBO, and IBF accepted what I was giving them – but you. You, the WBC, think you are better than everybody, don’t you? You have the green belt, which don’t mean (expletive). The real … belt is The Ring belt, which is free.
“You can take the … belt. It’s a trophy anyway. The (expletive) am I paying you every time I step foot in the … ring? It doesn’t make sense. I am the (expletive) that’s putting my life on the line, not you. You should be paying me to carry your belt, if you want to be truthful.
“It irks my nerves that this dude gets on a plane, gets a hotel suite for him and his buddies, they go out for five-star meals and dinners and all of that, and guess who has to pay for it? Us fighters. We are paying for you to come out here and have the time of your life. It’s all done on our dime. Does that sound right to y’all? It’s crazy, ain’t it, that we have to pay them a sanctioning fee like they are the government, and we’re getting taxed.
“Then he said that I allegedly made [$50 million in the Alvarez fight]. You don’t know how much I made. Once again, you’re speculating. So listen, Mauricio. I appreciate you, because everyone in the world knows you were going for Canelo. You were mad that I beat Canelo. It’s OK. It happens. If you were a real fan of the sport, you would have said congratulations instead of having that smirk on your face, all mad and pouting.”
Following his points win against Alvarez, the WBC rewarded Crawford with a commemorative ring that had 10 carats of stones set onto yellow gold with 8.5 carats of white diamonds. It was valued at over $100,000.
On Wednesday, Sulaiman explained that he lowered the traditional 3% sanctioning fee to 0.6% and that 75% of the funds that were supposed to be collected were to contribute to causes helping fighters in need.
Sulaiman shared that multiple messages to Crawford and his team regarding the matter went unanswered; it resulted in the WBC stripping Crawford.
In a parallel move, the WBC ordered a fight between interim titleholder Christian Mbilli and Hamzah Sheeraz for the vacant 168-pound title.
“They have rankings systems, and people are mandatories for years, like David Benavidez [was at 168 pounds before he moved up last year]. You never saw the WBC strip Canelo for Benavidez, who was a mandatory for like two years. But that’s that favoritism (expletive),” said Crawford.
“[Sulaiman] wanted to make it all about [himself]. It doesn’t matter – I am still the undisputed champion, and still the champion in the division. You know why? The only belt that is recognized as the champion is The Ring belt, baby. That’s the No. 1 belt in the division that trumps all belts. And guess what, The Ring’s $188,000 belt is free. How do you love that? I wonder how much your belt costs? I don’t see any receipts on your belt. It’s crazy, but you have so many taxes on these belts.
“You claim that you are for the fighters, but you are probably worse than the promoters. But hey, I wish you and your company the best.
“I’m still the champion. History has already been made. I am a legend.”
