Ryan Garcia says Terence Crawford turned his back on the WBC once he got his money for the Canelo Alvarez fight. He notes that before he was blessed with a big payday for the Canelo fight, he didn’t talk like that.
What Garcia is talking about is that Crawford (42-0, 31 KOs) refused to pay the WBC the $300,000 sanctioning fee for the enormous $50 million purse. That move cost him his WBC belt as they chose to strip him of the title when he decided not to pay.
Why Crawford refused to pay
They’re not just going to let him get it because he is popular. Ryan believes that the way Crawford has changed his tune, from nice-to-nice to criticizing the WBC, is “cowardice.”
“Crawford should have talked his talk. Before, when he needed them, he didn’t talk like that,” Ryan Garcia told InsideRingShow about Terence Crawford turning his back on the WBC when he no longer needed them for rankings after getting his big $50 million payday against undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez.
“Now that he has his money and the cash, now, ‘Oh, I don’t need the WBC to give me an opportunity. Now, I’m going to say, F*** y’all.’ To me, this is a bit cowardly on his part. But guess what? The only thing I disagree with is why is it $330,000? I don’t like that amount,” Garcia said.
Sanctioning fee breakdown
The reason it’s $300,000 and not $1.5 million is that the WBC gave Crawford a 0.6% discount instead of the normal 3% for their fighter sanctioning fee. Based on Terence’s $50 million earnings for the fight, he should have been paid $1.5 million, but the WBC let him down. But even so, he still wouldn’t pay even the reduced amount, which was a drop in the bucket for the $50 million he made.
Did Crawford miscalculate?
Crawford didn’t realize at the time that, by being frugal, how important it was for him to hold onto the WBC title. He needed that belt to remain the undisputed super middleweight champion. Having all four titles in Terence’s possession during negotiations with Canelo Alvarez would have made a difference. Instead, he now has just three, thanks to the decision not to pay the sanction fee.
Crawford says he doesn’t need the titles, but he has them, because it’s not enough for him to say he’s “the Ring champion”. It doesn’t work. The undisputed is the coveted title, and he lost it by being adamant. That straightness that helped him in battle confused him when it came to business decisions. Someone had to explain to Crawford before he made this move.
Turki pays to make undisputed happen
You have to wonder what Turki Alalshikh thinks about this. He went through all this trouble to have the undisputed 168-lb championship on the line for Crawford by paying Canelo a fortune to face IBF champion William Scull earlier this year on May 3rd.
The idea was for Canelo to capture the last belt he needed to go uncontested. When he defeated Scull to win that last belt, it set the table for Crawford to fight for the undisputed. Turki corrected him. Instead of holding on to the four belts Turki helped him obtain, Bud refused to pay the 0.6% sanctioning fee, which was nothing compared to the $50 million he was paid.
Last updated on 12/08/2025
