‘Bud’ was crowned undisputed super middleweight champion back in September after defeating Canelo Alvarez, but the American has been handed a bitter blow
Terence Crawford has been brutally stripped of his WBC super middleweight title for not paying sanctioning fees for his last two fights.
‘Bud’ became undisputed super middleweight champion back in September after he scored a historic points victory over Canelo Alvarez in Las Vegas. Just days after bumping up two-weight classes for the mouthwatering showdown against the Mexican sensation, Crawford was stripped of his WBA super welterweight title after he informed the sanctioning body that he had no intention of moving back down to 154lb.
Nearly three months on from his dust-up with ‘Saul,’ Crawford has seen his undisputed super middleweight status completely abolished – with the WBC now ordering Hamzah Sheeraz to fight Christian Mbilli for the vacant title.
During a recent WBC convention in Thailand, president Mauricio Sulaiman confirmed the news, revealing that Crawford – following September’s clash with Alvarez – snubbed the sanctioning body of $300,000 in sanctioning fees – 0.6 per cent of his reported $50million fight purse.
It comes after he allegedly previously denied payment from his win over Israil Madrimov back in August 2024. “He forgot how he got to make $50 million,” Sulaiman said. With the WBC now looking to move forward, it now presents Britain’s Sheeraz with the chance to become a world champion.
M’billi won the vacant WBC interim super middleweight title back in June after knocking out Maciej Sulecki. The 30-year-old then retained the title with a split draw over Lester Martinez on the Alvarez vs Crawford undercard back in Las Vegas in September. Sheeraz’s only shot at championship glory came back in February when he took on Carlos Adames for the WBC middleweight title. After an epic back-and-forth contest, the 26-year-old was unable to get his hands on the strap after drawing with the champion.
The Brit then decided to move up to super middleweight in July, but faced a tough test against Edgar Berlanga – whose only career defeat coming into the contest came at the hands of Alvarez in September 2024. Sheeraz made easy work of his rival, though, scoring a devastating fifth round KO.
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What’s next for Crawford remains to be seen. ‘Bud’ had recently hinted at a potential showdown with Janibek Alimkhanuly next, but that could be off the cards after the Kazakh star reportedly tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug in a VADA test. The news was first reported by Ring Magazine’s Mike Coppinger, stating that the IBF and WBO middleweight champion had delivered an adverse analytical finding.
Alimkhanuly’s unification showdown with Erislandy Lara now looks set to be off following the recent news. “I have always supported clean sport, you know this well,” the 32-year-old said in a statement uploaded to social media. “I was surprised when I read the news. VADA took the first test and said everything was clean. I have not made any changes to my vitamins. I don’t know what happened with the second test, so I requested a retest.”
