Sulaiman on stripping Crawford of the belt: “The worst decision”
Hoje
WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman explained why the organization ultimately stripped three-time undisputed champion Terence Crawford of the WBC title at super middleweight.
“The worst situation, the worst decision the WBC could ever make is to strip a champion of the belt. I’m very sorry because of Terence’s actions. They led to the WBC being forced to make such a decision.
We looked for every possible way to reach an agreement. But world champions have obligations — just like they have major opportunities that come with holding WBC champion status.
It was a long process, quite uncomfortable and frustrating. But it was about two fights. The fight with Madrimov, when Crawford was the WBC champion at welterweight — he never paid the sanctioning fees for that fight.
And then his next fight was Canelo Alvarez. He fought for the WBC title just like he did for the other belts. He won the WBC title, became undisputed — and he also didn’t pay the sanctioning fees for that fight,” Sulaiman said.
Previously, after the decision to strip Terence of the WBC title, Sulaiman said it would be extremely difficult for Crawford to find an opponent through their organization in the future.