New 168lb world champion crowned following Terence Crawford being stripped of title

The governing bodies are continuing to act after Terence Crawford‘s retirement in December.

Five-weight world champion Crawford earned the biggest win of his career at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas in September when he stepped up two divisions to dethrone Canelo Alvarez of his four world titles.

After several months of speculation over what Crawford’s next move would be, he announced an abrupt retirement, hanging up the gloves with a perfect 42-0 record and vacating the IBF, WBA and WBO titles in the process.

The one belt he didn’t vacate was the WBC, after he had been stripped of that strap prior to his retirement due to refusing to pay their sanctioning fee for the Canelo bout, leading to a bitter fallout with WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman.

The WBC have now confirmed their new world champion at 168lbs, revealing that Christian M’Billi will be elevated from interim status to full champion.

M’Billi has an undefeated record of 29 wins and 1 draw from his 30 professional fights, and he has shared his delight at claiming world honours.

“I earned my world title through hard work, discipline, and merit. I promise to double down on my standards and intensity in training and in every aspect of my life to defend it and remind everyone why I’m at the top.”

M’Billi is set to return to action soon to make the first defence of his new belt, as he looks to fill the void of Crawford and establish himself as the best 168lb fighter on the planet.