Terence Crawford has officially gone to war with the WBC and its president, Mauricio Sulaimán. But this time, ‘Bud’ wasn’t the one who fired the first shot. On Wednesday, the WBC announced it had stripped Crawford of its 168-pound title after he failed to pay sanctioning fees for his last two fights, despite what the organization claims were multiple attempts. The governing body has now moved forward, ordering interim champion Christian Mbilli to face Britain’s Hamzah Sheeraz for the now-vacant belt.

Crawford remains the IBF, WBA, and WBO champion after defeating Canelo Alvarez in September to collect all three titles. Typically, each sanctioning body charges fighters 3% of their purse. However, the WBC says it reduced Crawford’s fee to just 0.6% due to his reported $50 million payday—a total of around $300,000, which the organization says would largely go toward a fund for fighters. Sulaimán called the situation “very unfortunate” and described Crawford’s refusal to pay as “a slap in the face.” Terence Crawford has now fired back with his response.

Terence Crawford refuses to fuel Mauricio Sulaimán’s lavish lifestyle

Crawford exploded with anger toward WBC president Mauricio Sulaimán after being stripped of the super middleweight title, launching a blistering response over unpaid sanctioning fees and what he sees as long-standing favoritism. Crawford said Sulaimán had “a lot to say about me not paying him $300,000 plus another $100,000,” but made his stance clear, “I ain’t paying your a— s—t.”

He questioned why the WBC expected more money than other major bodies. “What makes you so… better than the WBO, the IBF, or the WBA?” Crawford argued that every other organization accepted the same amount, while the WBC acted like its green belt held superior value. He dismissed that notion entirely, saying, “[The real belt] is the Ring belt, which is free, motherf—ker.”

Crawford then criticized sanctioning bodies for placing financial burdens on fighters while executives travel comfortably. He pointed out that officials “go out to dinner, five-star meals… and guess who got to pay? Us fighters.” He questioned why fighters must repeatedly pay sanctioning fees when “I’m the motherf—ker that’s put my life on the line, not you.” It’s worth noting that the WBC gave Crawford a ring with 10 carats of stones set onto yellow gold with 8.5 carats of white diamonds, valued at $100,000. 

Regardless, he also accused Sulaimán of bitterness following his win over Canelo Alvarez. “Everybody in the world knows you [were] going for Canelo… [you should have said] congratulations instead of having that little smirk on your face.” Despite the WBC stripping him, Crawford maintained that his legacy remains untouched. “I’m still considered the undisputed champion,” he said, adding that “the only belt that’s recognizable… is the Ring belt, baby. That’s the number one belt in the division that trumps all belts. And guess what? It’s free.”

Crawford closed by criticizing the WBC’s history of selective enforcement—particularly regarding mandatory challengers like David Benavidez—but insisted he’s unbothered. “I’m good… still the champion. Can’t take that away from me.” Besides, the former three-division undisputed champion was previously stripped of the IBF welterweight title on November 9, 2023. 

After becoming undisputed by beating Errol Spence Jr., he was ordered to face mandatory challenger Jaron Ennis. A rematch clause with Spence conflicted with the IBF’s strict rules, which don’t allow exceptions for contractual rematches. Crawford couldn’t comply, so the IBF vacated his title and promoted Ennis to champion. 

This, of course, isn’t the first time a boxer has rebelled against a sanctioning body.

Riddick Bowe threw his WBC belt in the trash

Riddick Bowe’s decision to throw his WBC heavyweight title in the trash during a 1993 press conference remains one of boxing’s most iconic moments. But according to WBC President Mauricio Sulaimán, the stunt wasn’t Bowe’s idea at all. The act came shortly after Lennox Lewis became the mandatory challenger by defeating Donovan ‘Razor’ Ruddock. Instead of agreeing to the fight, Bowe publicly dumped the belt, a move long interpreted as personal defiance.

However, Sulaimán later revealed that the real mastermind was Bowe’s then-manager, Rock Newman. “It was his manager, Rock Newman, who made him do that, which he is extremely ashamed for,” Sulaimán said, adding that Bowe apologized to the WBC in 1994. The revelation resurfaced after Sulaimán met Bowe to address false reports of a comeback. For Sulaimán, the belt incident was a misguided publicity ploy, one Bowe himself never wanted to commit.

Having said that, the WBC and its sanctioning fees have long been a controversial subject, one Terence Crawford didn’t want to deal with anymore. And now that he has received mainstream attention, it appears he doesn’t need any WBC belts. What do you make of all this?