Terence Crawford vacates WBA title at welterweight, Eimantas Stanionis elevated

Terence Crawford has vacated the WBA belt he won last year down in the welterweight division and instead will keep the WBA junior middleweight title he recently earned, according to an article posted on the sanctioning body’s website.

This is not a surprise. Crawford has shown no interest in remaining at 147 pounds following last year’s victory over Errol Spence. In the wake of becoming the undisputed welterweight champion, Crawford has been stripped of the IBF belt, became the WBC’s so-called “champion in recess” and vacated his WBO title.

Instead, Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) moved up to junior middleweight and defeated Israil Madrimov four weeks ago for the WBA’s title in that weight class. 

With Crawford no longer the WBA’s primary titleholder at welterweight, that honor now belongs to Eimantas Stanionis.

Stanionis (15-0, 9 KOs), became the WBA’s secondary “regular” titleholder by virtue of his April 2022 split decision win over Radzhab Butaev. He made his first defense about two years later, winning a unanimous decision over Gabriel Maestre on the May 2024 undercard of Canelo Alvarez vs. Jaime Munguia.

The IBF welterweight title now belongs to Jaron “Boots” Ennis, elevated from the interim world title he picked up in January 2023.

The WBC welterweight titleholder is Mario Barrios, who had won the interim title in September 2023.

And the WBO welterweight belt rests around the waist of Brian Norman Jr., upgraded from the interim title he got in May 2024.

Follow David Greisman on Twitter @FightingWords2. His book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.