For those speculating about whether Terence Crawford might return to welterweight, it’s time to pause. The division’s former undisputed champion, who subsequently became a unified title holder, per available reports, has decided to shed the last trappings of the 147-pound weight class. The move suggests that Crawford may be shifting his focus to super welterweight (light-middleweight), where he secured a significant victory earlier this month.

At the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, Terence Crawford fought Israil Madrimov. The unanimous victory on the Riyadh Season Card thereby ensured that the Nebraskan Southpaw, who aspires to achieve nothing short of boxing greatness, might pursue his plans to claim titles in a fourth division. Earlier, many deemed it an obvious move to reach closer to his ultimate aim: a fight with Canelo Alvarez. But the way things stand now, the matchup seems highly improbable. So what should be done with the remaining belts around his waist? Better do a neat handover and move on.

Terence Crawford: New book, new chapter

A tweet from talkSPORT‘s Michael Benson read, “Terence Crawford has now officially vacated his WBO welterweight world title.” Instead, Brian Norman Jr., who became an interim WBO champion after his tenth-round knockout victory over Giovani Santillan on the Emanuel Navarrete–Denys Berinchyk card, will become the ‘full’ WBO welterweight champion.

‘Bud’ Crawford’s victory over Israil Madrimov on August 3 made him a WBA light middleweight champion. Additionally, he secured the vacant interim WBO title as well. So henceforth he will be more or less designated as a light middleweight champion. “Crawford currently still remains WBA welterweight world champion, but it appears likely he could soon also vacate that belt,” the post mentioned.

As most fans might be aware, the WBA usually maintains two layers across quite a few weight divisions. In the welterweight division, Lithuanian Eimantas Stanionis holds the honor of the WBA (regular) champion. So the final moveout from Terence Crawford will make the former European Champion as well a full champion.

The latest development follows WBC’s move in May to assign Terence Crawford the status of ‘champion in recess’. Many believe the sanctioning body took the step given apprehensions over ‘Bud’ coming back to 147 pounds. It also meant that former light welterweight champion Mario Barrios, who had moved to welterweight following the loss to Gervonta Davis, would be promoted from the WBC’s interim to full championship.

Commencement of the transition

Terence Crawford’s process of vacating the belts commenced last year. He became a two-division undisputed champion on July 29 after the Errol Spence epic. Subsequently, he had a mandated defense of his IBF title against Jaron Ennis. The IBF had instructed him to conclude the negotiations within the stipulated time, which was September 24. But the problem was that Crawford was already committed to a rematch clause with Spence Jr., which the latter had invoked in September. Unlike other sanctioning bodies, the IBF reportedly does not consider rematch clauses as exceptions to mandatory defenses.

As a result, Terence Crawford was instructed to hand over the IBF title. The measure elevated ‘Boots’ Ennis as full champion. However, at the same time, it left Crawford as the unified champion. The whole division’s line-up now appears as follows: WBC: Mario Barrios, WBA: Eimantas Stanionis, IBF: Jaron Ennis, WBO: Brian Norman Jr.

Reacting to the news report, one of the users lamented that the whole division is now made up of ’email champions’. Do you agree?