Last year, Dana White & Co. made a bold return to boxing with the Canelo vs. Crawford showdown as TKO revived Zuffa Boxing for this event. In the superfight, Terence Crawford, despite the size disadvantage, outboxed his opponent, defeating Canelo Álvarez to claim the undisputed super middleweight titles at Allegiant Stadium. Even 18 weeks later, the hype hasn’t gone down.

The event generated over $47 million in gate revenue with 70,000+ fans in attendance witnessing Terence Crawford’s victory over Canelo last September. Recently, Crawford released unseen behind-the-scenes footage, giving fans an exclusive look at his championship celebration.

Dana White reacts honestly to Terence Crawford’s stunning win over Canelo

Dana White praised Terence Crawford in a hallway moment captured in the latest behind-the-scenes video released on Crawford’s YouTube channel.

“You’ve been the greatest this weekend,” said Dana White to ‘Bud’.

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Terence Crawford held his new belt and reflected on the moment and the environment around him. “They’re always cool, you know. I love going there every time in Omaha. They’re always, you know what I mean, helpful in every way.”

White, who rarely hands out compliments, doubled down with more praise, “Everybody loved you, from PR to the back of the house.”

Going into his fight against Canelo Alvarez, Crawford entered as the clear underdog. Still, he flipped the script in a grueling 13-round battle and secured a decision victory. As a result, the Nebraska native made history as the first male boxer in the four-belt era to become an undisputed champion across three different weight classes.

Along the way, he reportedly earned around $10 million in base pay, with his total earnings estimated to be around $50 million. The figure still came in lower than Canelo Alvarez’s purse ($100 million guaranteed purse). However, the celebration did not last long. Just a few months later, the WBC stripped Terence Crawford of the title after he failed to pay the $300,000 sanctioning fee.

Under long-standing rules, fighters are required to hand over 3% of their purse to the sanctioning body to keep their belt, which was lowered to 0.6% for this fight. ‘Bud’ is one of the few fighters who has repeatedly called out the lack of transparency around where that money actually goes. The decision sparked immediate backlash and reignited debate across the boxing world on December 3.

Crawford addresses the WBC decision to strip his title

Terence Crawford rarely uses words to make noise. He prefers to let his fists do the talking inside the ring. Still, when he does speak, he almost always dominates the headlines. This became evident last month when Crawford broke his silence with a marathon public statement after the World Boxing Council stripped him of his title over unpaid sanctioning fees.

The situation escalated as the council repeatedly pushed to collect the payment. Instead, Crawford publicly challenged the WBC leadership.

“I ain’t paying your a–,” Crawford said defiantly, calling out WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman by name. “What makes you better than any of the other sanctioning bodies?

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

So, what do you think about Crawford ditching the belt? Does the 38-year-old Nebraska native still need it to lock in his legacy, or has he already proven he’s one of the greats? Drop your thoughts below.