Terence Crawford explodes on WBC president for stripping him of title, demanding $400K – ‘You better slap yourself!’

During a recent WBC convention in Thailand, it was revealed that Terence Crawford was stripped of the WBC Super Middleweight title he won by defeating Canelo Alvarez earlier this year for failing to pay his mandated fees to the sanctioning body.

Following the news, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman explained why the decision was made and went on to say he was upset with Crawford for not apologizing for what he sees as a transgression against the sport and sanctioning body.

“He did not comply with the rules and then moves up to super middleweight and makes the fight of the century, beats Canelo and makes $50,000,000, or around that,” Sulaiman said during the convention before revealing that he was giving Crawford a huge discount on his fees.

“The WBC absolutely is not going to charge 3-percent of such an amount. We made a very clear 0.6 percent, which is $300,000 with $225,000 going to the Jose Sulaiman Boxers Fund, which is to help former fighters in need. And it is just regrettable. Not even a ‘thank you’ or an ‘I’m sorry.’ Instead taking a different route of a no response,” he added.

“I wish him the best but this is not, the WBC is huge, it’s great, it’s about greatness and I am relieved, to tell you the truth.”

If Sulaiman wanted a response, then that is exactly what he got once Crawford caught wind of his comments as the now-former undisputed champion went off on the WBC president for thinking he is better than the other sanctioning bodies in the sport.

“I see Mauricio has a lot to say about me not paying him $300,000 plus another $100,000 for sanctioning fees. Then he is going to tell me I didn’t apologize. Who the fuck do you think I am? Boy, you better slap your fucking self. I ain’t paying your ass shit. What the fuck you talking about pay you,” he said.

“What makes you any better than any other sanctioning body? Answer that question. What makes you better than the WBO, the IBF or the WBA? Everybody accepted what I was giving them but you. The WBC think that you better than everybody, don’t you? So since you the WBC and got the green belt, which don’t mean fucking shit because the real belt is The Ring belt, which is free. Motherfucker what are you talking about?

“You want me to pay more than the other sanctioning bodies because you feel like you are better than them. How in the world did all of the other sanctioning bodies agree to the same amount, but you sit your ass up there and say that I need to apologize to you? What the fuck? You can take the fucking belt, it’s a trophy anyway. Why am I paying you every time I step into the ring? I am the one wearing my body down, putting my life on the line, not you. You ain’t stepping your ass into that ring,” he added.

What really irks Crawford is the fact that he feels that he and the other fighters are paying for Sulaiman and his “buddies” to rent lavish suites and go to expensive dinners during fight week with the fees collected from them. He also went on to say that Sulaiman is making up a number he feels is owed to WBC based on what he made against Canelo when he, in fact, does not know exactly how much he was paid for the fight.

Furthermore, Crawford — who is considered one off the best pound-for-pound boxers in the history of the sport — went on to say Sulaiman is making it all about himself because he is upset that he defeated Canelo, who “Bud” feels the WBC president was rooting for all along.

Speaking of favoritism, Crawford went on to say he finds it odd that Canelo was never stripped for failing to fight David Benavidez, who had long been considered the rightful challenger for a while. That’s why he is putting his support behind Turki Alalshikh and Dana White’s boxing venture, which doesn’t plan on working with existing governing bodies, WBC included.

“Turki, I hope y’all get that done. I hope y’all get that done so we can all see people like this guy go away from boxing, because they ruin the sport,” he added. “They’ve got they ranking systems when people be mandatory for years, like Benavidez, they don’t strip these fighters. The WBC, you ain’t never see them strip Canelo for Benavidez. He was what, mandatory for like two years? It’s crazy. That’s that favoritism shit. I’m still the champion. Can’t take that away from me. History already been made, baby. I am legend.”

If you recall, Sulaiman didn’t like the way Dana White and Co. were handling the fight between Crawford and Alvarez by not allowing him to have some part in the festivities, and now his issues have compounded with “Bud” himself, who likely will never be able to posses that title.

That said, it’s safe to say he isn’t worried about it one bit.

As a result of the move by the WBC, Hamzah Sheeraz (22-1, 18) will fight interim super middleweight champion Christian Mbilli (29-0-1) in 2026 to unify the vacant title. Furthermore, there is no telling if this move puts a wrench on a potential rematch between Crawford and Canelo in 2026.