WBC strips Terence Crawford’s super middleweight belt

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Terence Crawford is no longer boxing’s undisputed king of the super middleweight division.

Two months after pulling off a clinical performance against Canelo Alvarez to cement his name in the sweet science’s history books, the undefeated superstar out of Omaha, Nebraska, lost a belt after the World Boxing Council (WBC) stripped his championship title on Dec. 3, 2025.

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 boxing 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.

“The WBC sent multiple communications to Crawford, his manager and legal counsel,” the boxing organization said in a statement.
“The WBC did not receive an acknowledgement of receipt nor any response to any communications and had no choice but to act, considering he’d received ample notification and multiple opportunities to address and resolve the situation.”

Hours after the WBC’s final verdict, Crawford responded in a video posted on his official Instagram account, full of expletive-laden statements.

“What makes you better than the WBO, the IBF, or the WBA?” Crawford said.
“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.”

As a result, the WBC ordered a mandatory title fight between British up-and-coming star Hamzah Sheeraz and Christian Mbili to square off for the vacant super middleweight belt.