Crawford to Sulaiman: “It’s crazy. How long was Benavidez the mandatory?”

Three-time undisputed champion Terence Crawford was recently officially stripped of the WBC belt at Super Middleweight. He later reacted to the decision.

The American also reminded WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman about the situation with David Benavidez, who for a long time couldn’t secure a fight with Saul Alvarez at Super Middleweight despite holding interim status.

“Mauricio, I respect you. I respect you because the whole world knows you were rooting for Canelo. You were mad that I beat Canelo. It’s all good, stuff like that happens — but if you were a real fan of the sport, you would’ve said, ‘Congratulations,’ instead of standing there with that smile, angry and pouting.

But listen, you should’ve taken the money and been grateful and happy that I wore your belt as your champion. They’ve got their ranking systems where fighters can be mandatories for years, like Benavidez. And they don’t strip those guys of titles.

You’ll never see them strip… you know… Canelo — because of the Benavidez situation. He was the mandatory for how long? Almost two years? It’s crazy,” said Crawford.

After stripping Terence of the title, Sulaiman explained the WBC’s decision:

“He didn’t follow the rules, then moved up to Super Middleweight and made the fight of the century. He beat Canelo and made $50 million or so.

The WBC was never going to take 3% of that amount. We clearly set it at 0.6%, which is $300,000. Of that, $225,000 will go to the Jose Sulaiman fund, created to help former fighters who are in need.

And it’s just sad. He didn’t even say ‘thank you’ or ‘sorry,’ choosing another route. No response. I wish him all the best,” said Sulaiman.