Terence Crawford has vacated his WBO welterweight title, leaving him with just one of his previous four belts at 147. Brian Norman Jr. has been upgraded from WBO interim 147-lb champion to full champion with the organization.
The last remaining belt from Crawford’s undisputed championship, WBA, will either be Vacated or stripped from him if he continues sitting on it.
Crawford won the WBA junior middleweight title on August 3rd, beating Israil Madrimov by unanimous decision in Los Angeles. Once Crawford did that, it was a given that he would start losing his remaining 147-lb titles that he’d been stubbornly holding onto.
Crawford’s move opens the door for a fight between Brian Norman (26-0, 23 KOs) and Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis for the WBO 147-lb title.
Ennis hasn’t said anything about wanting to move up to 154 to pursue bigger paydays in that weight class. So, it appears he will stay at 147 to continue his goal of becoming the undisputed champion before moving to 154.
That’s a strategic move on Boots’ part. It’s safer to take that path because when Ennis accomplishes his goal, Crawford will either be retired or too old to deal with his youth and power.
Brian Norman Jr. recently won the WBO interim 147-lb title last May, knocking out Giovani Santillan in the tenth round in a grueling contest. In the eyes of many boxing fans before that fight, Norman Jr. was an unknown, but he looked outstanding, chopping down the previously unbeaten Santillan in a war.
Teofimo Lopez recently talked about moving up to welterweight to challenge Norman Jr. for the WBO 147-lb title once he was elevated. Now that he has, we will see whether Teofimo was serious about wanting to move up or just talking to get attention on his career. Norman Jr. would be a nightmare for Teofimo with how he’s looked recently in his fights against Steve Claggett and Jamaine Ortiz.
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