Oscar De La Hoya has publicly criticized Terence Crawford following the fighter’s refusal to pay WBC sanctioning fees, calling Crawford’s comments and actions disrespectful to the sport of boxing.
In a video posted to Instagram on Thursday, December 4, the founder of Golden Boy Promotions did not hold back.
“Today, I’m pretty f***ing pissed off,” Oscar De La Hoya said. “Terence Crawford, he told the WBC to basically go f*** themselves yesterday, and is refusing to pay sanctioning fees to them for his $50 million fight against Canelo. $50 million! Did he forget where he came from, or how he got there? How do you think you rose to that level? Through the ranking system!”
De La Hoya also questioned Crawford’s shift in attitude toward championship belts. “I’ve heard Crawford say many times that he loves the belts,” he said. “But suddenly, the WBC is the enemy, and the Ring belt is the only one that matters? It looks like that monopoly money really got to your head. This is not the way to behave.”
He later added, “I thought you had integrity. I thought you had respect for boxing and the sport. Just because you made it, Crawford, and you made $50 million, and you don’t want to pay that fee ever again, that is wrong. I’m very disappointed.”
De La Hoya’s comments arrive days after Terence Crawford was officially stripped of his WBC super middleweight title. The sanctioning body claimed Crawford failed to pay mandatory fees related to his last two bouts, including his September victory over Canelo Alvarez.
That win crowned Crawford as the undisputed super middleweight champion and reportedly earned him a $50 million purse. The WBC stated it reduced its standard sanctioning fee from 3 percent to 0.6 percent for the fight due to its scale, with much of the funds intended for the José Sulaimán Boxers Fund.
According to the WBC, repeated attempts to contact Crawford, his management, and legal representatives went unanswered, prompting the organization to vacate the belt.
Crawford, however, made his feelings clear in a video posted earlier in the week. “You, the WBC, you got the green belt, which doesn’t mean s***,” he said. “The real belt is the Ring belt, which is free…You can take the f***ing belt. It’s a trophy anyway.”
According to Sports Illustrated, WBC president Mauricio Sulaimán later responded to Crawford’s remarks, saying, “I am not going to entertain and get in a pissing contest with Terence Crawford. If he says what he says, let him say whatever he wants to say…The WBC cares. We only care for the boxers.”
With Crawford removed from the title picture, the WBC has ordered Hamzah Sheeraz and Christian Mbilli to fight for the now-vacant super middleweight championship.