WBC strips Terence Crawford of belt for failing to pay fees

Terence Crawford is no longer boxing's undisputed super middleweight champion after the WBC stripped him of his belt on Wednesday for failing to pay sanctioning fees.

WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman claims Crawford did not pay the mandatory fees to the sanctioning body for two consecutive fights, including his Sept. 13 win against Canelo Alvarez.

"The WBC sent multiple communications to Champion Crawford, his manager, and his legal counsel," the WBC said in a statement. "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."

According to Sulaiman, Crawford owes $300,000 for the fight with Canelo on top of the fees for his August 2024 win against Israil Madrimov.

"It is with deep regret, deep sadness, that with all the efforts, support and steps the WBC took in good faith (for Crawford)," Sulaiman said, per CBS Sports. "... The WBC was instrumental in making that fight, the (championship) ring we made (for him) ... just to receive a slap in the face is sad.

"It's very complicated to withdraw a title from a champion -- it hurts deeply.""

The 38-year-old Crawford (42-0, 31 KOs) still holds the WBA, IBF and WBO titles following his unanimous decision against Alvarez.

Crawford's vacant WBC title will now be on the line when Hamzah Sheeraz (22-1, 18 KOs) takes on Christian Mbilli (29-0-1, 24 KOs).

--Field Level Media