Just months after the WBC stripped Terence Crawford following his fight under Dana White’s Zuffa Boxing, the organization has once again made history by taking a belt from Shakur Stevenson. Earlier this month, Stevenson outclassed Teofimo Lopez to claim his fourth-division world champion status, becoming only the 25th fighter to hit this milestone. However, soon after, the WBC stripped him of one of his belts, cutting his celebration short.

Still, Stevenson is not going to let the WBC off easily. In fact, on social media, he slammed the organization. “100k to some crooks who don’t deserve it? Nah, Leilani, I rather give it to u baby girl.. The WBC didn’t even have shit to do with this fight and it’s eating them alive take your belt it don’t make me,” wrote Shakur Stevenson on X.

Shakur Stevenson captured the WBC lightweight title in 2023 and successfully defended it against fighters like Artem Harutyunyan and Josh Padilla. However, in his most recent event under Matchroom Boxing this month, the WBC still demanded fees, even though no title was on the line, which Stevenson deemed unfair.

Consequently, fans and fighters have voiced outrage over the organization’s decisions. Over the past year, the sanctioning body has also drawn growing criticism for stripping champions who fail to pay these fees.

In December, the WBC stripped Terence Crawford of his belt just 81 days into his undisputed reign, following his victory over Canelo Alvarez. At that time, Crawford reportedly earned around $50 million from the fight but refused to pay any fees, even questioning how the WBC used the money.

In response, WBC President Mauricio Sulaimán stepped in to clarify the situation, noting that the organization had even lowered Crawford’s fee from three percent to 0.6 percent. Yet, despite the controversy surrounding Shakur Stevenson with the WBC, the organization has now pulled Terence Crawford into the spotlight.

Terence Crawford weighs in on Stevenson’s WBC controversy

After the WBC announced that the super lightweight world champion title was vacated, Shakur Stevenson immediately fired back: “And I just paid these dudes after my last fight… what the hell am I giving y’all 100k right now for? Because y’all got beef with Buff, so come at me for it.” Since then, Stevenson has taken the decision as a personal slight, given his closeness with Terence Crawford, although the situation remains uncertain.

Meanwhile, tensions in the boxing world have continued to rise, especially after Dana White stepped in through Zuffa Boxing, a move that other organizations resisted. Furthermore, adding fuel to the controversy, Terence Crawford responded on Instagram to the sanctioning body: “WBC – ain’t no way y’all are still this mad. It’s cool, bro, the Ring belt was FREE.”

As a result, uncertainty now surrounds the future of the WBC lightweight division. So, how do you view Shakur Stevenson’s decision to refuse paying for a belt that wasn’t even on the line? Share your thoughts below.