Crawford vacates WBA welterweight title, Stanionis elevated

Terence Crawford has informed the WBA that he is vacating his welterweight title and keeping his recently won 154-lb belt with the organization. The move by Crawford means WBA ‘ordinary’ 147lb champion Eimantas Stanionis is the new full belt holder

Crawford’s move to vacate his WBA 147-lb title was expected because the division has no big names to fight apart from IBF champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, and Crawford has no interest in fighting him . The 36-year-old Crawford recently came off a year-long layoff to defeat WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov by a close 12-round unanimous decision on Aug. 3 at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.

Crawford’s focus remains on Canelo

Since winning the WBA belt at 154, Crawford has shown no interest in defending it or fighting any other champions in an association.

It is believed that Crawford only wants to fight Canelo Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 KOs) and no one else. If true, it’s unclear why Crawford didn’t vacate his WBA 154-lb title either. However, it could be that he is holding on to the WBA title in the hope that he will be offered an absurd amount of money to fight Vergil Ortiz Jr. or fighting Tim Tszyu.

Crawford can sit on his WBA 154-pound title the same way he won his four welterweight titles. He became the undisputed 147-lb champion last July when he defeated IBF/WBA/WBC champion Errol Spence. However, instead of defending his belts, Crawford sat inactive for 13 months before facing Madrimov for his WBA 1544(lb belt).

New opportunities for Stanionis

Newly promoted WBA welterweight champion Stanionis (15-0, 9 KOs) will be one of three belt holders to target IBF champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis and his promoter Eddie Hearn for a unification. Stanionis had already spoken to Hearn about a fight with Boots, but he did not accept the offer.

Hearn needs to make a significant offer to get Stanionis to agree to the fight, as he won’t accept a fight with Ennis if his price isn’t met. This applies to WBO champion Brian Norman Jr. and WBC champion Mario Barrios.