Terence Crawford's WBC rant could have huge consequences for boxing

Terence Crawford is the talk of the boxing world after giving his reaction to the WBC's decision to strip him of the governing body's super middleweight title which could change the make-up of the sport.

On Wednesday, the WBC announced that Crawford will no longer be the undisputed champion at 168lbs after failing to pay the WBC sanctioning fees for his previous two fights against Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez and Israil Madrimov in August 2024.

WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman described Crawford's actions as "a slap in the face" before the American was able to respond. 

Terence Crawford sends angry message to WBC

Taking to Instagram, Crawford posted the following reaction to the WBC's decision with the caption 'Just had to get something off my chest'. 

"I saw Mauricio had a lot to say about me not paying him $300,000, plus another $100,000 something for sanctioning fees. Then he gonna tell me I ain’t apologise? Who the f—k do you think I am? Boy, you better slap yourself. I ain’t paying your a—s s—t," Crawford said.

“What makes you so better than any of the other sanctioning bodies? Answer that question. Everybody accepted what I was giving them and the WBC think you are better than everybody. You have the green belt, which don’t mean f—g s—t. 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—g belt. It’s a trophy anyway. The f—k am I paying you every time I step foot in the f—g ring? I’m the motherf—r that’s putting my life on the line, not you … You should be paying me. This dude gets on a plane, gets a hotel suite. Him and his buddies, they go out for five-star meals and all that. Guess who got to pay for it? Us fighters.”

“Mauricio, everybody in the world know you was going for Canelo. You was mad that I beat Canelo. It’s okay. It happens. Say congratulations instead of having that little smirk on your face, all mad and pouting. You should’ve took the money and you should’ve been grateful that I was rocking the belt around as your champion … I been stripped before, it doesn’t matter, I’m still considered the undisputed champion.”

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Crawford has since been given plenty of praise for his stance and taking the fight to the WBC, who in the eyes of some, are a detriment to boxing. 

But it's not just in the immediate future where Crawford's stance could have an effect, it may also have an influence on the status of certain world titles within the sport of boxing. 

Why Terence Crawford's rant could change boxing forever

Boxing's main flaw to those new to the sport are the number of world champions, and sometimes the difficulty to determine the number one fighter in each weight class.

The four governing bodies, the IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO, all vie for influence over the sport, and whenever a boxer contests for one of their many world titles, full, interim or otherwise, they have to pay a fee. 

In Crawford's case, he did not pay the sanctioning fee for when he beat Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez to become the undisputed super middleweight champion in September. 

More often than not, undisputed champions struggle to enjoy this historic achievement with the governing bodies immediately ordering mandatories for their respective belts, and belts are vacated. 

Oleksandr Usyk is the latest example with the Ukrainian having to vacate his WBO title and interim champion Fabio Wardley having his status upgraded. 

• Read next | Oleksandr Usyk versus Deontay Wilder? Why heavyweight champion wants American star over Fabio Wardley

In recent years, the Ring Magazine belt has had a revival with respected voices cementing its position as the prize needed to declare a fighter as the number one in a weight division. 

With the Ring belt commanding no sanctioning fees, that will always go down well with fighters, but more often than not, those contesting for world titles are more concerned about getting this particular prize around their waist.

Therefore, don't be surprised if those world champions in possession of the Ring belt decide to make a stance similar to Crawford's and choose to not give the sanctioning bodies the money they want. 

If this becomes a regular occurrence, it will have seismic effects on the sport of boxing and push it towards the much-desired hope that one belt rules the sweet science.

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