Terence Crawford has lashed out at WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman in an expletive social media post after the WBC boss confirmed the governing body had stripped the undisputed super-middleweight champion of his prized world title.
The decision, announced on Wednesday, ends Crawford’s brief run as the WBC title-holder at 168lbs following his landmark victory over Canelo Alvarez in September.
According to the organisation, repeated attempts were made to contact the fighter and his representatives about unpaid fees dating back to the Israil Madrimov bout in 2024 as well as his undisputed showdown with Canelo.
With no payment received and no response from Team Crawford, the WBC formally declared the belt vacant.
The dispute centres on the percentage cut sanctioning bodies take from a fighter’s purse.
In Crawford’s case, the WBC had already reduced its usual 3% fee to a significantly lower figure due to the scale of his Canelo purse, but the governing body says those revised terms still went unmet.
For Sulaiman and the WBC board, they say it left them with no alternative.
The outcome now clears the way for a new champion at 168lbs. The WBC has moved quickly, ordering a vacant-title fight between Britain’s Hamzah Sheeraz and the unbeaten French-Cameroonian contender Christian Mbilli.
That bout is expected to land early next year and will significantly shape the landscape of a division that has seen major movement since Canelo’s defeat.
Crawford, however, was in no mood to accept the ruling quietly.
Within hours of the belt being taken, the 38-year-old went live on social media and launched into an expletive-laden attack on the WBC, insisting he would not be pressured into making payments he considers unfair.
In a video that quickly went viral, Crawford dismissed the value of the iconic green belt, suggesting he cares more about legacy than sanctioning fees.
“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.
"Who the f*** do you think I am? Boy, you better slap your f****ing self. I ain't paying your a**** s***.
What makes you so much better than the other sanctioning bodies? Answer that question - but you, the WBC, think you are better than everybody, don't you?
- Terence Crawford (X)
"You have the green belt, which don't mean f****ing s***. "The f***ing real belt is The Ring belt! You can take the f***ing belt. It's a trophy anyway.
"I'm the m******* that is putting his life on the line, not you...
"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."
The fallout adds a fresh layer of intrigue to a division already in flux.
With Crawford refusing to back down and Sheeraz-Mbilli now set for the vacant strap, the story has quickly become one of the most talked-about in boxing.
What remains unclear is whether Crawford will attempt to reclaim the WBC title in the ring, continue without it, or pursue an entirely different path in 2026.
Either way, the dispute has underlined a growing tension between elite fighters and the sport’s sanctioning bodies - and Crawford’s stance will only fuel that debate further.
