By Norm Frauenheim
Boxing, unruly and unrepentant, is erupting all over again with Terence Crawford’s shotgun-like blast of insults in a social-media counter to the World Boxing Council’s decision to strip him of his title.
In a social-media post delivered from his vehicle late Wednesday, Crawford unloaded on the WBC and its president, Mauricio Sulaiman, who announced from a convention in Bangkok this week that it was stripping the 168-pound belt Crawford won in his masterful decision over Canelo Alvarez for not paying sanctioning fees.
Sulaiman said he failed to pay a $300,000 fee on a purse that Sulaiman said “allegedly earned” Crawford $50 million. If accurate, that’s less than the traditional fee, 0.6 percent instead of the usual 3%.
But Sulaiman’s use of the word “allegedly” is confusing. It suggests that the WBC did not know what the precise size of Crawford’s purse in a mid-September bout that resulted in Canelo collecting more than $100-million, according to Saudi Prince and promoter Turki Alalshikh.
It’s not clear whether the WBC has filed a lawsuit or intends to.
In a subsequent post to his profane shot at Sulaiman, Crawford said he never agreed to pay anything to the WBC, which also said that the pound-for-pound champion failed to pay a fee for his junior-middleweight decision over Israil Madrimov in August 2024.
“Let’s make things clear …’’ Crawford said on an X post. “I never agreed on anything with (WBC), nor did my team. So, stop the crap with that narrative. I’ve always been a man of my word.’’
It’s also not clear what Crawford paid to the other three ruling bodies, — International Boxing Federation, World Boxing Organization and World Boxing Association. He also won a belt from The Ring, a century-old publication bought by Alalshikh from Oscar De La Hoya for a reported $10 million in November 2024.
Sulaiman said the WBC had tried repeatedly to communicate with Crawford. Sulaiman said there was never a reply. Stripping the belt, Sulaiman said, was a last resort.
Crawford, an undisputed champion in three weight classes, is bigger than any of the belts. After his career-defining decision over Canelo, his legacy is secure.
A prevailing theory is that he reacted angrily to the WBC because the acronym tried to embarrass him by going public with the reasons for its decision.
On any scale, $300,000 is a lot of money. But as a percentage of a reported $50 million, it’s small. Still, nobody likes to get outed for not paying parking tickets.
Crawford is known for his pride and defiance. In other words: Don’t try to tell him what to do. And don’t try to make a fool out of him. The WBC did both. An angry Crawford countered.
“No hard feelings,’’ Sulaiman told reporters late Thursday.
The controversy, however, doesn’t figure to disappear quietly. In a possible bid to monopolize the sport, there have been mounting signs for months that the Saudis are trying to rid
the sport of rival belts and acronym influence.
Alalshikh declined to display the WBC belt during a Canelo news conference in March 2025. He did, however, happily display The Ring’s belt. It’s fair to wonder whether The Ring, a publication, will eventually become another four-letter acronym, RING.
“The effing real belt is the Ring belt, which is free,’’ Crawford said in a remark that sums up a looming battle over who controls the fighters, the fees, rule-and-regs and purses.
It’s still not clear whether Crawford will retire or fight on in perhaps a rematch against Canelo or in a bid for still another title, this time at middleweight.
But his presence in the overall future of the business will be there, no matter whether he answers another opening bell. On Wednesday, he showed – he shouted – that he was ready to answer just about anything.
