Oscar De La Hoya Tears Into Terence Crawford For Canelo Fight WBC Payment Refusal

On December 4, former undisputed super middleweight champion Terence Crawford went on a long rant against the World Boxing Commission (WBC) and its President, Mauricio Sulaiman, for stripping him of the WBC super middleweight belt (thus not making him an undisputed champion for any longer) because Crawford apparently had not paid sanctioning fees for his previous two bouts.

Among Crawford's tirade (which he posted on his Instagram account), he said, "You, the WBC, you got the green belt, which doesn't mean s***. The real belt is the Ring belt, which is free. You want me to pay you more than the other sanctioning bodies because you feel like you're better than them?... You can take the f****** belt. It's a trophy anyway."

This has prompted a response from Sulaiman, who said, "I am not going to entertain and get in a p***ing contest with Terence Crawford. If he says what he says, let him say whatever he wants to say. Today, the WBC cares; they made a statement wishing him success in his life, inside and outside of the ring. He's a boxer and will always be a boxer. We only care for the boxers. So, we'll have to see in the near future, but I have no issues."

Terence Crawford on September 9, 2025. | IMAGO / Hoganphotos

Oscar De La Hoya Disses Terence Crawford Over WBC Fee Payment Refusal

Crawford's decision not to pay the WBC sanctioning fee clearly rubbed boxing legend and Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya the wrong way, which De La Hoya conveyed with a December 4 Instagram post.

"Today, I'm pretty f****** pissed off. Terence Crawford, he told the WBC to basically go f*** themselves yesterday, and is refusing to pay sanctioning fees to them for his $50 million fight against Canelo. $50 million! Did he forget where he came from, or how he got there? How do you think you rose to that level? Through the ranking system!" De La Hoya said.

He later added, "I've heard Crawford say many times that he loves the belts. But suddenly, the WBC is the enemy, and the Ring belt is the only one that matters?... It looks like that monopoly money really got to your head... This is not the way to behave."

"I thought you had integrity. I thought you had respect for boxing and the sport," De La Hoya added to Crawford. "Just because you made it, Crawford, and you made $50 million, and you don't want to pay that fee ever again, that is wrong. I'm very disappointed."

De La Hoya then noted that this is surely part of the TKO group's agenda.

It will be interesting to see whether Crawford musters up a response to De La Hoya.

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