Terence Crawford celebrates with his championship belts after defeating Errol Spence Jr. for the undisputed welterweight championship on July 29, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
And there was one.
Belt, that is.
The Ring has confirmed that Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford has officially vacated his WBO welterweight title. The move came as the four-division titlist/three-division RING champ was pressed to decide at which weight class he would remain. Crawford (41-0, 31 knockouts) recently dethroned WBA 154-pound titleholder Israil Madrimov on Aug. 3 in Los Angeles. The fight that also came with the interim WBO junior middleweight title at stake.
It is clear that he will remain at 154 or above and that his days are just about done at welterweight.
“WBO President Paco Valcarcel received official communication from… Crawford confirming his decision that he will no longer stay in the welterweight division,” WBO Championship Committee chairman Luis Batista-Salas confirmed in a ruling obtained by The Ring. “Brian Norman, Jr., is elevated from “Interim Champion” to “Full Champion” status in the WBO Welterweight Division with the rights conferred by such designation.”
Norman (26-0, 20 KOs) received up the upgrade less than three months after he claimed the interim title. The 23-year-old from Conyers, Georgia stopped Giovani Santillan in the 10th round of their May 18 battle of unbeaten welterweights.
A decision was not yet made on whether Norman will be bound to an immediate mandatory title defense. He was due a shot at the full crown, but had to wait out Crawford-Madrimov.
Permission was granted by the WBO for Crawford, The Ring’s No. 3 pound-for-pound fighter, to move up and challenge Madrimov (10-1-1, 7 KOs) at the higher weight. The condition was that he would have to face Norman in a title consolidation bout if he returned to 147.
Crawford instead followed the same path that he has taken with the WBC and IBF. He became undisputed champion after a ninth-round stoppage of Errol Spence Jr. (28-0, 22 KOs) last July 29 in Las Vegas. Their long-awaited battle saw Crawford win the WBC, WBA and IBF titles and retain his WBO belt. He also became The Ring champion in a third weight division with the feat.
Five years of waiting on that moment has since produced a slow removal from welterweight.
Crawford was stripped of the IBF title for failure to honor an ordered title consolidation bout versus Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis (32-0, 29 KOs) last fall. The ruling came when Crawford informed the sanctioning body that he was contractually bound to a Spence rematch.
That fight never took place, nor has Spence since returned to the ring or Crawford to the welterweight division. Ennis was elevated to full titleholder and recently defeated David Avanesyan (30-5-1, 18 KOs) to defend the belt.
The WBC belt was the next to go. Mario Barrios (29-2, 18 KOs) won an interim version in a twelve-round decision over Yordenis Ugas last Sept. 30 in Las Vegas. The San Antonio native defended the secondary belt in a decision victory over Fabian Maidana on May 4, also in Vegas. Both bouts took place on the undercard of Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez-headlined Pay-Per-View events.
Barrios was granted the upgrade to full WBC beltholder on June 19, three weeks after Crawford formally relinquished the belt.
Crawford still holds the WBA welterweight title, though the sanctioning body (generally) forbids boxers holding titles in two or more divisions. Rare exceptions are made, as was the case when all-time-great Floyd Mayweather was permitted to straddle welterweight and junior middleweight.
Eimantas Stanionis (15-0, 9 KOs) holds the WBA ‘Regular’ welterweight title, which he defended in a May 4 points victory over Gabriel Maestre. The bout was on the same Alvarez-Jaime Munguia show that saw Barrios outpoint Maidana. There is speculation of a Stanionis-Barrios unificiation bout in the works. Such a fight would require Stanionis to also receive the full upgrade.
Crawford’s abandonment of the WBO welterweight title ends a reign that lasted more than six years. He won the belt in a June 2018 ninth-round stoppage of unbeaten Jeff Horn. It came ten months after he fully unified the junior welterweight division. Seven successful defenses followed—all inside the distance as part of an eleven-fight knockout streak. His early night stretch ended in his points win over Madrimov, the first time since July 2016 where Crawford was forced to go to the scorecards.
A decision was not yet made on Crawford’s next fight. There is heavy speculation that he will next face Vergil Ortiz (22-0, 21 KOs), who dethroned interim WBC titlist Serhii Bohachuk (23-2, 22 KOs) over the weekend. Their savage twelve-round affair is the leading candidate for 2024 Fight of the Year.
Ringside for the show was Turki Alalshikh, whose Riyadh Season group presented Crawford-Madrimov in its U.S. debut. The outspoken figure was open in his plans to next stage Crawford-Ortiz, even before Saturday’s bout heard the first bell.
Crawford was removed as RING welterweight champion following his win over Madrimov. The staff decision was made on the basis that Crawford was clear in his intentions to fight at 154 or heavier moving forward.
