Terence Crawford stripped of WBC super middleweight title for non-payment of fees

[Ruthless-RKO]

Terence Crawford stripped of WBC super middleweight title for non-payment of fees

The WBC on Wednesday stripped its belt from undisputed 168lbs champion Terence Crawford, calling the fighter’s non-payment of sanctioning fees from his last two bouts “a slap in the face.”

WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman read from a news release detailing that the unbeaten Crawford, after defeating Canelo Alvarez in September in Las Vegas, stiffed the sanctioning body of $300,000 in sanctioning fees – 0.6% of his $50 million purse – after previously denying payment from his August 2024 victory over Israil Madrimov down at junior middleweight.

“He forgot how he got to make $50 million,” Sulaiman said.

The WBC board then voted to make a meeting between interim champion Christian Mbilli and England’s Hamzah Sheeraz a title fight for the now vacant belt.

Lester Martinez, who fought Mbilli to a draw on the Crawford-Alvarez card, is in line to fight the Mbilli-Sheeraz winner, the board voted.

Boxing Scene will have more on this as events develop.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Why isn't Mbilli now the full champion?

[Ruthless-RKO]

WBC: Terence Crawford Stripped, Mbilli-Sheeraz Ordered For Vacant 168-Pound Title

Terence Crawford's reign as undisputed super middleweight world champion lasted just shy of three months.

At the 63rd annual WBC Boxing Convention in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday's session saw divisional updates, mandatory challengers and various situations clarified across the sanctioning body's 18 weight categories.

The biggest news came at 168-pounds, where it was announced The Ring's premier pound-for-pound star Crawford (42-0, 31 KOs) had been stripped of his WBC title after failing to pay sanctioning fees for his last two bouts.

It was explained that in his last fight, a legacy-enhancing points win over longtime champion Canelo Alvarez on Sept. 13, overtures were made to lower the fee from 3% to 0.6% but despite numerous efforts, no reply was given.

As such, current interim beltholder Christian Mbilli (29-0-1, 24 KOs) has been mandated to box Hamzah Sheeraz (22-0-1, 18 KOs) for the vacant title, with No. 1-rated Canelo still rehabbing from elbow surgery and unlikely to return before April at the earliest.

Croatian puncher Luka Plantic (13-0, 10 KOs), rated No. 7 in their most recent update, will face either No. 3-rated Jaime Munguia or Mbilli's recent foe Lester Martinez next in an eliminator after another defence of his trinket title in Albania on November 23.

As reported by The Ring's Mike Coppinger last month, Mbilli-Munguia was in talks while Martinez - who won a regional WBC belt last year - was honored by the sanctioning body in Mexico City with a ring in the shape of their symbolic green and gold belt.

[MPW]

Why isn't Mbilli now the full champion?

Because the WBC makes up the rules on the fly with no consideration of what its done in the past.

[Ruthless-RKO]

[gilgamesh]

Unless he announced his retirement he's still the boss at Super Middle. Although I'd say if he hasn't defended at that weight in the next year we may have to reconsider that. Especially if he fights on at a different weight as has been speculated.

They're probably stripping him so that Canelo can pick up the vacant belt against some schmuck, and make their rematch a Unification again

Boxing is stupid like that.

All this really doesn't mean much, it's just Boxing Politics aka nonsense. Crawford is still the Champion at 168.

[Ruthless-RKO]

[2206750]

Crazy situation, honestly. Getting stripped over unpaid fees feels like classic boxing politics, and the timing makes it look even more questionable. Crawford is still the real top guy at 168 in the eyes of most fans, but the WBC moving straight into ordering Mbilli vs. Sheeraz just shows how quickly belts can shift hands behind the scenes. Until Crawford actually loses in the ring—or announces a move in weight these decisions don’t change who people consider the true champion.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Terence Crawford and Nick Khan take aim after WBC's latest actions

Mauricio Sulaiman could not have picked a worse time to awaken some very powerful enemies.

Chief among those prepared to turn their back on the WBC is Terence “Bud” Crawford. The five-division champion was stripped of his WBC 168lbs belt for failure to pay sanctioning fees to the Mexico City-headquartered organization from his last two contests.

The breaking point for Sulaiman and his team was not receiving an allegedly agreed-upon $300,000 payment following Crawford’s historic win over Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. Crawford bumped off the Mexican legend to become the undisputed 168lbs champion atop their September 13 Netflix event from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“Champion Crawford allegedly earned 50 million dollars for that fight,” Sulaiman said in a ruling made during the WBC convention in Bangkok, Thailand. “Appreciating the magnitude of that event, the WBC modified its rules to limit the Boxer’s Bout Fee to a 0.6% sanction fee instead of the 3% that the WBC Rules & Regulations require.

“The WBC put Champion Crawford on notice regarding his failure to comply with express mandates of the WBC Rules & Regulations; specifically, the non-payment of the Boxer’s Bout Fees for his last two fights: against Israil Madrimov and against Saúl Álvarez.

“The WBC sent multiple communications to Champion Crawford, his manager, and his legal counsel. Very unfortunately, the WBC did not receive an acknowledgment of receipt nor any response to any of those communications. The WBC had no choice but to act, considering Champion Crawford had received ample notification and multiple opportunities to address and resolve the situation.”

Sulaiman also noted that Crawford, 42-0 (31 KOs), failed to pay sanctioning fees from his August 2024 win over unbeaten Israil Madrimov. Crawford won the WBA 154lbs title that evening, along with the WBO interim belt and with the WBC having sanctioned the bout as a title eliminator at the request of Crawford and his team.

Crawford never returned to the 154lbs division, neither to defend his title or enforce his WBC mandatory status. He instead moved up two divisions – after having already moved up from 147lbs to 154lbs – to dethrone Alvarez, 63-3-2 (39 KOs). The win saw Crawford become a three-division undisputed champion, four-division lineal king and overall five-division titlist.

While the WBC 168lbs belt may be freed up, Sulaiman has landed squarely in Crawford’s crosshairs.

The unbeaten all-time great made a point to directly address the subject during a nine-minute live rant on his Instagram page.

"I see Mauricio got a lot to say about me not paying him $300,000 plus another $100k something for sanctioning fees,” Crawford started off the live-recorded session while in his car. “Then he's going to tell me, I ain't even apologize. Like, who the fornicate do you think I am? Boy, you've got to slap your fornicating self. I ain't paying your ass shit. What the fornicate you talking about, pay you $300,000? What makes you so motherfucking better than any of the other sanctioning bodies?

“Huh? Answer that question. What makes you better than the WBO, the IBF, or the WBA? Everybody accepted what I was giving them, but… the WBC, think that you better than everybody? Don't you? You got the fornicating green belt, which don't mean fornicating shit.

“The fornicating real belt is the Ring belt, which is free, motherfucker. [What are] you talking about? You want me to pay you more than the other sanctioning bodies because you feel like you're better than them? How in the world? All the sanction bodies agreed to the same amount, but you sit your motherfucking ass up there and say that I need to apologize to you. The fornicate? You can take the fornicating belt. It's a trophy anyway. [Why] the fornicate am I paying you every time I step foot in the fornicating ring?”

Crawford still holds the WBA, IBF and WBO belts and – as mentioned during his epic rant – is the recognized lineal and Ring Magazine champion.

Hardly coincidental, Crawford’s sentiments were echoed by Nick Khan, the powerful president of WWE whose TKO Group and Zuffa Boxing are pushing for Congress to approve its Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act, a proposed amendment to the current Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act which was enacted in 2000.

The matter is due to be heard by the Committee on Education and Workforce during a hearing scheduled for Thursday at 10:15 a.m. ET. Khan addressed the matter, along with his thoughts on the WBC, during a well-timed interview on ESPN’s popular “The Pat McAfee Show” on Wednesday.

“Outside of [Zuffa’s’] announcement with Paramount+…boxing does not exist [in the U.S] on any major media conglomerate outlet,” Khan noted. “It’s time to put some effort in. We think there’s a chance to bring it back to where it should be. We’ll see what we can do.

“Terence Crawford’s amazing effort against Canelo Alvarez… unanimously won that [undisputed 168lbs] championship. So how in fact, is it that two-and-half months later, he’s no longer the champion of [the WBC]? Because he didn’t pay a fee. That would be akin to the Los Angeles Dodgers having won a grueling, seven-game world series… and then Major League Baseball came to them and said, ‘You didn’t pay a fee so you’re no longer the world champions.’ It’s only in this sport of boxing where you see nonsense like this.

“By the way, the fellow who runs [the WBC] – going into Canelo-Crawford, he said he couldn’t stay in a regular hotel room. He needed a suite, he needed tickets for front row. He wanted to make sure there were ample number of tickets. It all seems quite odd that a sport would be run that way. So, our enhancement act – if you’re a fighter and you want to continue with it, nothing changes. This is presenting an “or” – a different option. If you want to come into a Unified Boxing Organization (UBO) … come here, fight with us.”

It is understandable that Sulaiman would use the annual WBC convention as a platform to declare the recent news on Crawford. However, the politician in him failed miserably in terms of timing.

Those who are in favor of TKO and Zuffa’s proposed amendment and future vision were quick to point out decades’ worth of damage caused by the sanctioning bodies.

The WBC was the first option to the old, one champion system with its formation in 1963. The past 60-plus years have produced very mixed results. While Sulaiman is an honorable humanitarian on a personal level, his organization – along with the IBF, WBO and especially the WBA in recent years – has made far too many decisions to create division and confusion among the sport.

For the moment, its latest detractor just happens to be the best fighter in the world and one of the very best to ever lace ‘em up.

“I'm the motherfucker that's putting my life on the line, not you,” Crawford stated in a reminder to all non-participants that the only fighters in the sport – are the actual fighters. “You ain't stepping your motherfucking ass in that ring. You or nobody else. So why should I have to pay to carry your belt? You should be paying me, if you want to be truthful.

“It irks my nerves how this dude gets on a plane, gets a hotel suite — him and his buddies — they go out to dinner, five-star meals, all that, and guess who's got to pay for it? Us fighters. We're paying for y'all to come out here, have the time of your life, stay in the best hotels of your life, and it's all done on our dime."

[Ruthless-RKO]

“I see Mauricio got a lot to say about me not paying him $300,000 plus another $100K-something for sanction fees, right, and then gonna tell me I ain’t apologize,” Crawford began. “Like, who the f-ck you think I am?! Boy, you better slap your f-ckin’ self, I ain’t paying your ass sh-t. F-ck you talkin’ about ‘pay you $300,000.’ What makes you so much f-ckin’ better than any other sanctioning bodies?

“What makes you better than the WBO, the IBF, or the WBA? Everybody accepted what I was giving them. But you, the WBC, think you’re better than everybody, don’t you? So since you, the WBC, and you got the f-ckin’ green belt — which don’t mean f-ckin’ sh-t — f-ckin’ real belt is The Ring belt which is free, motherf-cker. What you talking about you want me to pay you more than the other sanctioning bodies because you feel like you better than them?

“You can take the f-ckin’ belt! It’s a trophy anyway. The f-ck am I paying you every time I step foot in the f-ckin’ ring?…That don’t even make sense. I’m the motherf-cker that’s putting my life on the line, not you…You should be paying me, if you want to be truthful.

“It irks my nerves how this dude gets on a plane, gets a hotel suite, him and his buddies they go out to dinners, 5-star meals, all that, and guess who got to pay for it? Us fighters! We paying for ya’ll to come out here [to this year’s WBC convention in Thailand], stay in the best hotels of ya’ll life, and it’s all done on our dime.

“But, listen, you should’ve took the money and you should’ve been thankful and grateful that I was rockin’ your belt around as your champion…the undisputed champion, at that. But you wanted to make it about you.”

[Sendo Takeshi]

So the other sanctioning bodies asked for less than 0.6%? Hard to believe, especially because it would have to be way less than that to make such a big deal out of it.

I’m the first to sh*t on the sanctioning bodies, and yes, the fees are a lot of money. But the titles are part of the reason you get a huge payday in the first place. And apparently, according to Mauricio, about $225k of the $300k goes to the retired boxers’ fund, which is a non-profit (if what he says is true).

[Ruthless-RKO]

So the other sanctioning bodies asked for less than 0.6%? Hard to believe, especially because it would have to be way less than that to make such a big deal out of it.

i always thought it was 3% sanction fees

unless they negotiate it.

i don't know..

There is a way of doing things. just not paying is not a good luck. could just say, im not paying the additional. i will pay whats agreed, etc. communication is key.

anyway, its done now. Bud is the man at 168.. but he probably wont say there. so belts will be scattered most likely..

[Sendo Takeshi]

i always thought it was 3% sanction fees

unless they negotiate it.

Seems like that's the case. They apparentley lowered it because of the huge payday Crawford got and they "didn't want" to take 1.5 mio. from him.

anyway, its done now. Bud is the man at 168.. but he probably wont say there. so belts will be scattered most likely..

Yeah, if he doesn't wanna stay at SMW, might as well not pay the fees

[Ruthless-RKO]

[gilgamesh]

100% guaranteed that Canelo will be fighting for the vacant title in his next bout.

[Cent0089]

100% guaranteed that Canelo will be fighting for the vacant title in his next bout.

That would be vs Mbilli amm i right? Would love that

[Ruthless-RKO]

[gilgamesh]

I'll bet at least half of them searches were "Who is Terence Crawford?" prior to the Canelo fight

[Ruthless-RKO]

I'll bet at least half of them searches were "Who is Terence Crawford?" prior to the Canelo fight

100%

[RScarf1]

The WBC does not charge sanctioning fees for female boxers, so the money has to come from somewhere to pay for judges, referees, supervisors, plane tickets, hotels, food, etc.

[Ruthless-RKO]

The WBC does not charge sanctioning fees for female boxers, so the money has to come from somewhere to pay for judges, referees, supervisors, plane tickets, hotels, food, etc.

Does the sanctioning orgs pay the judges, referees etc??

[RScarf1]

The WBC does not charge sanctioning fees for female boxers, so the money has to come from somewhere to pay for judges, referees, supervisors, plane tickets, hotels, food, etc.

Does the sanctioning orgs pay the judges, referees etc??

I see your point. If the officials work for a sanctioning body, then the sanctioning body could pay the officials, but the promoter pays the fees for three judges, a referee, and a supervisor for a world title fight. There is also a timekeeper and ringside physician, but I believe they work for the boxing commission of a country or state even if it is a world title fight. Is the amount the promoter pays the same amount as what the sanctioning body pays the official? For example, if a referee is paid $10,000 for a prestigious world title fight, is that exact amount what the promoter pays? The sanctioning fees are used to cover operational costs and charitable undertaking. The promoter has to pay the fees that the sanctioning body charges and there are usually different amounts for a referee compared to a judge. The promoter is usually responsible to pay for the officials' travel and lodging, but maybe not always such as for a minor sanctioning body.

[gregregegg]

Sanctioning fees should be agreed pre fight. So pay em. Wbc putting there belt on the line makes this undisputed which probably added 5-10 million to craws purse and yet he won’t pay them the 300,000… You can’t take the benifit then go back on it. I hate sanctioning body’s, and a pro fighter, but you can’t go back on a deal after you have already got the spoils.

What if Netflix said to Crawford “I paid other fighters 2 million now your asking for 50million, nah I ain’t paying you that”

[MPW]

Sanctioning fees should be agreed pre fight. So pay em. Wbc putting there belt on the line makes this undisputed which probably added 5-10 million to craws purse and yet he won’t pay them the 300,000… You can’t take the benifit then go back on it. I hate sanctioning body’s, and a pro fighter, but you can’t go back on a deal after you have already got the spoils.

What if Netflix said to Crawford “I paid other fighters 2 million now your asking for 50million, nah I ain’t paying you that”

Agreed. It seems petty and cheap that sanctioning fees were - presumably - agreed upon prior to the bout and then after the fact you decide you don't want to pay them. Since Alvarez lost the fight, maybe he can renege and not pay his portion of the fees to the orgs.

In some respects, the WBC dropped the ball by putting their belt on the line when Crawford had reportedly stiffed them on sanctioning fees from his previous bout. This is easy for me to say, but I would have played hardball and not put the green belt on the table until all the fees were paid up front before the fight. Sorry - no payment, no belt to fight for.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Sanctioning fees should be agreed pre fight. So pay em. Wbc putting there belt on the line makes this undisputed which probably added 5-10 million to craws purse and yet he won’t pay them the 300,000… You can’t take the benifit then go back on it. I hate sanctioning body’s, and a pro fighter, but you can’t go back on a deal after you have already got the spoils.

What if Netflix said to Crawford “I paid other fighters 2 million now your asking for 50million, nah I ain’t paying you that”

Agreed. It seems petty and cheap that sanctioning fees were - presumably - agreed upon prior to the bout and then after the fact you decide you don't want to pay them. Since Alvarez lost the fight, maybe he can renege and not pay his portion of the fees to the orgs.

In some respects, the WBC dropped the ball by putting their belt on the line when Crawford had reportedly stiffed them on sanctioning fees from his previous bout. This is easy for me to say, but I would have played hardball and not put the green belt on the table until all the fees were paid up front before the fight. Sorry - no payment, no belt to fight for.

Sanc orgs normally send new belts to the winners. So Bud would have returned the belts he won to Canelo.

Surely, the orgs wait til the sanction fees paid..