Terence Crawford Makes Crucial Career Decision

On August 3/4 at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, Terence Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) created history, winning the WBA super welterweight title from Israil Madrimov (10-1-1, 7 KOs) to become a four-division world champion. Following the fight, attention quickly turned to what could be next for “Bud.” The new WBA king has now made a crucial decision regarding his future.

Terence Crawford Vacates WBO Title

WBO Confirm New Full Welterweight Champion

Crawford was granted permission by the WBO to move up in weight and challenge for the WBA super welterweight strap, assuming he would face interim champ Brian Norman Jr., if he returned to the 147 lbs division. Beating Errol Spence Jr. made “Bud” the undisputed champion at welterweight, but the pound-for-pound great has decided to vacate, which follows the IBF decision to strip him for not fighting Jaron “Boots” Ennis. The next belt to go was the WBC, which was awarded to Mario Barrios, who was the interim title holder. “Bud” still holds the WBA welterweight title, but it remains to be seen if they will allow him to hold two of their titles in different weight classes.

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The WBO confirmed the decision by Crawford: “Lastly, pertaining to the current Interim WBO Welterweight Champion, Brian Norman, Jr., is also entitled to the same protection of rights and interests as his counterparts. Nonetheless, considering that Crawford has determined to no longer participate in the Welterweight Division, by default, the Interim Champion, Brian Norman, Jr., must be elevated to “Full Champion” status to eliminate the Interim Champion status, effective immediately.”

What’s Next for Terence Crawford?

Before Vergil Ortiz narrowly defeated Serhii Bohacuk, Turki Alalshik, who was ringside for the fight and spoke to DAZN about his wish to make the Ortiz vs. Crawford bout: “Tomorrow or after the fight, we have big meeting to support and see the next step with the Golden Boy.” 

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He continued: “Ortiz, if he does the job today, we want to see him against Crawford.” His Excellency tantalisingly added: “I will give Crawford big offer to do this.”