Crawford Blasts WBC After Being Stripped Of World Championship

American boxer Terence Crawford has criticised the World Boxing Council for stripping him of the WBC super-middleweight world title for failing to pay his sanctioning fees.

Crawford defeated Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez to win the belt after jumping up three weights to become the undisputed champion.

The WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman confirmed on Wednesday that Crawford has been stripped of the title for failing to pay a $300,000 sanction fee for his fight with Canelo Alvarez.

The governing body ordered Hamzah Sheeraz and Christian Mbilli to fight for the vacant 168lb belt.

However, Crawford took to social media on Thursday to react to the decision, while blasting the WBC President, Mauricio Sulaiman.

He wrote on Instagram: “Mauricio got a lot to say about me not paying him $300,000 plus another $100K-something for a sanctioning fee.

“Then he’s gonna tell me I need to apologize. Who the f— you think I am? Boy, you better slap your f—ing self. I ain’t paying you a–, s—. What the f– you talking about, pay you $300,000. What makes you so motherf—ing better than any other sanctioning body? Answer that question.

“Everybody accepted what I was giving them. The WBC thinks that you better than everybody, and you’ve got the f—ing green belt, which don’t mean f—ing s—. You want me to pay you more than the other sanctioning bodies because you feel like you’re better than them.

“You can take the f—ing belt. It’s a trophy anyway! What the f— am I paying you every time I step foot in the f—ing ring? I’m the motherf—er that’s putting my life on the line, not you! You ain’t stepping your motherf—ing ass in that ring. Why should I have to pay to carry your belt? You should be paying me!”

All four major sanctioning bodies – the WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO typically charge fighters 3 per cent of their purse to compete for their belts.

Crawford has held 18 different major world championships in five weight classes from lightweight to super middleweight, including the undisputed championships at light welterweight, welterweight, and super middleweight.

He is the second-ever male three-weight undisputed world champion.

In the “four-belt era”, he is the first male boxer in history to capture the undisputed championship in two and three divisions, and the first to achieve that status at both light welterweight and welterweight.