WBC MAKES CRAWFORD A ‘CHAMPION IN RECESS’ AT 147 – WHAT’S NEXT?

The WBC has now made Terence Crawford a ‘Champion in Recess’ at 147, showing that Bud’s time at welterweight could end.

Crawford became the Undisputed Welterweight Champion after stopping Errol Spence Jr. in round nine. Since then, he has been stripped of his IBF belt after he failed to defend against Jaron Ennis. Bud was contracted to rematch Spence, meaning the authorities stripped him. Crawford will now box Israil Madrimov on August 3.

The fight is for Madrimov’s WBA Junior Middleweight Title. A win makes Crawford a four-division champion, as he targets undisputed at 154 or a mega undisputed clash with Canelo Alvarez at 168. That suggests Crawford’s future is no longer at 147, forcing the WBC to act. This means Crawford could get an immediate title shot if he returns to 147.

WBC Reacts

“The WBC Board of Governors has voted in favor of accepting our proud WBC welterweight champion, Terence Crawford, to be placed as champion in recess in the welterweight division. The WBC Board also voted in favor of officially sanctioning Crawford vs. Madrimov as a final elimination bout for the mandatory position in the super welterweight division. Terence Crawford will inform the WBC which division he wishes to compete in after the August fight,” WBC said 

The current WBC Interim Welterweight Champion is Mario Barrios. He defeated Yordenis Ugas to claim that belt. He then defended the belt with a win over Fabian Maidana. If Crawford vacates or is stripped, he will likely become the full champion. Crawford has nothing else to prove at 147, having knocked out every opponent in the weight class on his way to being undisputed.

He defeated the best of his era in Spence as he turned his attention to 154. While he has been linked with an Ennis fight, Boots offers Crawford nothing by legacy. Crawford is also 37, as he targets the biggest fight. The Saudis are keen on making Crawford against Canelo.

Crawford’s Future

Despite that being the case, Amir Khan has advised Crawford to avoid that fight. Khan did something similar by jumping up two weight classes to box Canelo. Khan was outboxing Canelo for most of the rounds before he got caught with a huge right hand. That ended the fight, as Khan felt Crawford had other big fights.

“I don’t think Crawford should take that fight because he doesn’t need it. There are other fights out there he could take and make big money from. You can always get hurt, when you’re fighting a big puncher like that you can get hurt and I don’t think it’s worth it. I’d advise fighters not to jump up too much weight and fight, unless the money is ridiculous.

“I got paid like $10million when I fought him, it’s a lot of money. Normally I’d get paid like $3million, I was like, ‘What’s the point when I can just take this one fight and get paid for three fights? It’s not only that, it’s all the training sessions and everything. Really I went there for the big purse, but I started believing I was gonna win the fight. That’s why I was up on points, but he caught me with the big shot and he put me away,” Khan said 

Source: https://boxingnews.com/wbc-makes-crawford-a-champion-in-recess-at-147-whats-next/

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