WBC strips Shakur Stevenson’s lightweight belt

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Shakur Stevenson is no longer the king of the World Boxing Council (WBC) lightweight division.

Days after dominating Teofimo Lopez to bag The Ring and the World Boxing Organization (WBO) super lightweight titles, the four-division champion recently received bad news when the WBC decided to strip him of his lightweight belt on Feb. 5, 2026.

The WBC announced the surprising update via a social media post, stating that Stevenson can’t hold simultaneous belts in different divisions without winning the WBC title in the specific weight class.

Stevenson didn’t vie for the WBC belt in the super lightweight division and only took home The Ring and the WBO titles, with Dalton Smith still crowned champion following a fifth-round stoppage over Subriel Matias.

“Stevenson is now a 4-time World Champion, a feat achieved by a few boxers in history. Among those boxers, we find Oscar De La Hoya, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Canelo Alvarez, and Terrence Crawford,” the WBC posted.

“In light of Stevenson now being the reigning WBO Super Lightweight World Champion and consistent with the WBC Rules & Regulations, the WBC has declared vacant its Lightweight World title.”

Stevenson was quick to respond to the WBC’s decision, claiming that the organization pulled off the bold move because he didn’t pay a “fee” for fighting Lopez.

According to Stevenson’s account, the WBC forced him to pay USD 100,000 (PHP 5,884,000) because the WBC super lightweight title was not on the line.

“100k to some crooks who don’t deserve it?” Stevenson posted on his official X account.

“The WBC didn’t even have sh*t to do with this fight and it’s eating them alive. Take your belt it doesn’t make me.”

Stevenson wasn’t the only boxing champion who has recently had issues with the WBC.

Last December, Terence Crawford also criticized the organization in a separate instance.

In a statement, the WBC announced that Crawford failed to pay mandatory fees to the sanctioning body for his last two championship fights, against Israil Madrimov in 2024 and Alvarez earlier this year.

Despite the WBC lowering its mandatory fee from 3% to 0.6%, the organization still failed to collect payment from Crawford’s camp.

The WBC explained that the mandatory fee goes directly to the Jose Sulaiman Boxers Fund, which has already helped hundreds of young boxers pursue their dreams.

Crawford responded in a video posted on his official Instagram account, full of expletive-laden statements.

“Everybody accepted what I was giving them but you. You, the WBC, think that you’re better than everybody. You want me to pay you more than the other sanctioning bodies because you feel like you’re better than them,” Crawford said.