From Riddick Bowe to Terence Crawford: 35 Years Later, The WBC Faces Another Public Clash

The WBC (World Boxing Council) and Terence Crawford are beefing. Here we go again. Boxing being stupid, bogging itself down with outside-the-ring stuff which turns off prospective new fans who just want to see good fights, and not get caught up in politics. There is enough politics outside of sports, yes?

The WBC is moving forward in the 168-pound class without Crawford, the rightful belt holder, who essentially dumped the belt in the trash, a la Riddick Bowe in 1992.

I started covering boxing in college, and even then, I knew the trash-canning situation held more than met the eye. Was it greed? Or was it deft leveraging, with the fighter rightly repudiating the dictate of the sanctioning body?

There is no easier target than the sanctioning bodies, mind you. The media find it safe to act officiously in regard to the WBC, WBO, IBF, and WBA, especially. They can come off as a moral authority and not suffer blowback, since they really don’t need the sanctioners as a source.

Many folks are taking Crawford’s side. What seems reasonable at one price point starts to look iffy if you get to another monetary echelon. I get that, as I listened to Crawford take double-barreled aim at Mauricio Sulaiman, the WBC boss, for requested fees.

The customary 3% is too beefy when the purse is around $50M, the Crawford take from the marvelous showing versus Canelo Alvarez in September, Bud argues.

Mauricio Sulaiman Said His Logic Is Righteous

Sulaiman, in a video, explained that he offered a .06 percent variant to Crawford as a sanction fee to the American, with a portion of that going to a charity arm of the WBC. (It would be helpful for fans to see in specifics that charity in motion, btw). The same fee percentage looks real different on the come up versus when you ARRIVE, as Crawford has, to where you are a potent economic force.

Crawford is the epitome of the proud, defiant, proud of self as he should be athlete, especially within the structure of this life-or-death “sport.” He is an athlete first, but has now reached the point where he is an entertainer, can and does do what draws attention, and wants to be justifiably compensated for it.

People Get Richer, And Tighter With Money- Sometimes

That is where we fall into a tricky zone.  What is justified? What is proper?

Crawford, in that video, gets pretty specific on numbers, saying the other sanctioning bodies were happy with their “cut” and only Sulaiman balked. What makes the WBC deserve more? I could argue that it is because their history and current status make them best of breed, even if you don’t care for the species.

Andre Ward Gotta Like Crawford’s Stance

This truly is a TWO OR MORE SIDES TO THE STORY situation, and lol, I can almost picture Andre Ward out of camera range, nodding in assent as the Nebraska all-time great, now getting just critical due, lays out his dislikes.

The Shadow of Turki Lurks

I confess, it struck me that we have a PERCENTAGES issue in play, among others. This is multi-layered and sticky, actually, politically. Crawford points to his RING (Turki) belt as being the be-all, end-all, and yeah, no coincidence, Turki Alalshikh is the bankroller.

This move allows the WBC 168 belt to go up for grabs in a fight that is to the liking of Turki. No, not a coincidence.

All in all, these sorts of deals were murky in 1992 and today. Big bucks muck up your thinking, arguably, and skew it. No, not saying “woe is the WBC” here, but I will say that Sulaiman is a strong proponent of the sport as a whole, and his business reflects it, with staffing and infrastructure, i.e., considerable expenses.

Fans Lost Out Harder in ‘92

Where this kerfuffle differs from the 1992 trash can plan: Bowe’s move came off as worse than posturing when it played out. The fans did not get to see a truly tantalizing big man matchup, one of the hugest matchmaking misses of this modern era.

We don’t have that level of regret here, what with the pugilism king Crawford having dispatched Canelo definitively. Should we give a point, for progress? Or maybe just shake our head and say, “It’s boxing, theater of the expected.”

Michael Woods

Michael Woods got addicted to boxing in 1990, when Buster Douglas shocked the world with his demolition of the then-impregnable Mike Tyson. The Brooklyn-based journalist has covered the sport since for ESPN The Magazine, ESPN.com, Bad Left Hook and RING. His journalism career started with NY Newsday in 1999. Michael Woods is also an accomplished blow by blow and color man, having done work for Top Rank, DiBella Entertainment, EPIX, and for Facebook Fightnight Live, since 2017.

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