Promoter Eddie Hearn has delivered a scathing verdict on the ongoing feud between Terence Crawford and the World Boxing Council (WBC), firmly siding with the sanctioning body after it stripped the American of his super-middleweight title.
The Restaurant Bill You Can't Walk Out On
Hearn, who has promoted fighters against Crawford in the past, used a vivid analogy to explain why the unbeaten champion was in the wrong for refusing to pay his WBC sanctioning fees. "What he did is a little bit like going out to a restaurant, having all the best caviar and lobsters, and the bill comes and you go: 'I ain't paying that!' And you just walk out," Hearn told iFL TV.
"You sat down at the table, you wanted to eat all the good stuff; you've got to pay your dues and you've got to pay your bill," he continued. The bill in question was a $300,000 fee for Crawford's seismic September victory over Canelo Alvarez in Las Vegas, a fight where he claimed the undisputed super-middleweight crown to become the modern era's only three-division undisputed champion.
The Facts of the Financial Fallout
The WBC stripped Crawford of the title this week after he failed to pay the sanctioning fees for the Canelo bout and one previous fight. WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman labelled the refusal a "slap in the face," prompting a furious, expletive-laden response from the 38-year-old boxer on social media.
The WBC stated the $300,000 sum was calculated based on Crawford's reported $50 million purse for the Canelo fight, but represented a significant reduction from the standard 3% fee to just 0.6%. Sulaiman also claimed that $225,000 of that fee was earmarked for a boxing charity.
Hearn dismissed any argument about the cost being too high. "Now, what he will say in answer to that is: 'The bill was too much.' No, the rules are the rules," Hearn stated. "But Terence is looking at it, going: 'Well, it's $300,000.'"
Undisputed Status Comes With Strings Attached
The Matchroom Boxing chairman challenged Crawford's stance on the importance of championship belts. "You wanted the opportunity to call yourself an undisputed champion, right?" Hearn asked. "And the only way you can do that is to fight for the WBC world title. So, if belts don't matter, then surely undisputed doesn't matter to you."
He concluded with a firm principle: "For me, if you want to fight for the undisputed championship, you have to abide by the rules of that belt." Hearn also suggested this conflict is part of a broader shift in the sport's landscape, referencing the recent entry of TKO—the parent company of WWE and UFC—into boxing via its work with Saudi matchmaker Turki Alalshikh.
"But also, this is the era of... The new wave of boxing, coming in, is going to try to f*** all the belts," Hearn remarked, hinting at potential future disruptions to the traditional sanctioning body system.
