The WBC has made Terence Crawford welterweight ‘Champion in Recess,’ given that he’s moving up to 154 to challenge WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov on August 3rd for his belt and the WBO interim title.
Also, the Crawford vs. Madrimov fight will be a WBC 154-lb final eliminator, with the winner being mandatory for the October fight between WBC/WBO junior middleweight champion Sebastian Fundora and Errol Spence Jr.
Crawford’s Triple Crown Dream: A 154-lb Fantasy?
If everything works out well for Crawford, he could hold three titles at 154 by winning just two fights. One of those contests could involve a lucrative rematch for Crawford against Spence if Errol defeats WBC/WBO 154-lb champion Fundora in October.
Crawford will get a giant payday in a rematch with Spence if he’s coming off a victory over Fundora.
A Potential Crawford vs. Spence Rematch
If Spence doesn’t retire after the Fundora fight, which he’s already hinted about doing, we could see him and Crawford meeting in a giant PPV rematch with three belts at stake.
If Crawford wins those two fights, he will need only the IBF belt held by Bakhram Murtazaliev to become the undisputed junior middleweight champion.
Of course, it’s not a given that Crawford beats WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov because he’s not fought at 154, he’s getting old, and he only fights once a year. Crawford struggled as it was to beat Shawn Porter and David Avanesyan. Madrimov is on another level from those guys, and he could expose Crawford as being an old hype job, not what fans had thought he was.
The WBC’s Decision: ‘Champion in Recess’ Instead of Stripping
The logical question is, why isn’t the World Boxing Council stripping Crawford of his WBC welterweight belt rather than giving him the ‘Champion in Recess’ designation? In the old days, the sanctioning bodies would strip champions when they moved up in weight to fight for belts, especially when they had no intention of returning to the division.
In Crawford’s case, the WBC keeps his foot in the door by giving him the ‘Champion in Recess’ tag at 147, meaning he can return at any time to fight who the champion is.
Mario Barrios is the WBC interim welterweight champion and will either be emailed full championship status or will fight for the belt. I think the WBC will elevate Barrios to full champion by email.
Crawford’s Potential Return to Welterweight: The Haney Factor
The likely only way Crawford will return to welterweight to fight for the WBC belt is if Devin Haney moves up and gets his hands on the title. Haney is an easy mark, a soft target, but popular enough for Crawford to make good money fighting him on PPV.
Barrios isn’t popular enough to entice Crawford to come back to 147, and the Nebraska native certainly isn’t going to come back down to fight Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis if he’s the only one that snatches the WBC welterweight belt. Boots is like a younger, stronger, and better version of Crawford, and he would wreck the soon-to-be 37-year-old once-a-year fighter.
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