Crawford exits 147, Norman new WBO champ

The World Boxing Organization on Monday announced that new four-division champion Terence Crawford has vacated his welterweight belt in order to fight as a junior middleweight, elevating Brian Norman Jr. to full WBO welterweight titleholder.

Norman’s manager, Jolene Mizzone, said Georgia’s 23-year-old Norman (26-0, 20 KOs) was elated at receiving the WBO letter and is planning toward making his first title defense under the Top Rank promotional banner in November against a top-15 opponent.

“Like the great Pernell Whitaker once said, ‘Winning it is the easy part. Keeping it is the hard part,’” Mizzone told Norman. “He knows that now everyone is coming for him.”

Norman told Mizzone he was so committed to remaining a champion that he was going outside his Georgia home to “chop wood – with my hands, not an ax.”

Norman became WBO interim welterweight titleholder by virtue of his 10th-round knockout of San Diego’s Giovanni Santillan at the San Diego Sports Arena on May 18.

Crawford then made his move toward a fourth division belt, and defeated World Boxing Association belt holder Israil Madrimov by unanimous decision Aug. 3 in Los Angeles.

That positions Crawford to invoke his right as the mandatory opponent to current WBO/World Boxing Council junior middleweight titleholder Sebastian Fundora.

Facing an end-of-the-week deadline, Crawford’s attorney has yet to file that written request to the WBO.

It’s believed that part of the reason for that is because Saudi Arabia power broker Turki Alalshikh wants Crawford to instead fight unbeaten WBC interim 154-pound champion Vergil Ortiz Jr.

While Crawford has expressed interest in fighting again this year – and Fundora’s promoter, Sampson Lewkowicz, says his fighter can take a bout as soon as October – Ortiz likely requires a longer break following his brutal majority decision triumph Saturday over Serhii Bohachuk after being knocked down twice.

An official familiar with the behind-the-scenes conversation on the matter said, “We should know a resolution by later this week.”

Norman was interested in making his first defense against WBO 140-pound champion Teofimo Lopez Jr., but Lopez expressed interest in a late-September date in California that was not available, according to Mizzone.

“Life doesn’t work that way,” she said. “There was nothing we could do.”

Norman is not required to face a WBO mandatory in his first title defense – there’s not even one in place yet – and Mizzone said she would like him to experience victory as a full titlist in the ring.

“He took a lot of risk and worked so hard to win the Santillan fight and it paid off,” Mizzone said.

For Mizzone, 49, the title is the first she has experienced as a manager after spending several years at Main Events as vice president of operations.

“It was about rolling the dice, and it paid off,” Mizzone said.

She said she’ll consult with Top Rank to identify Norman’s next opponent.

“It has to be someone with the right style,” she said.