Promoter Eddie Hearn tore into Terence Crawford today for his decision not to pay the $300K sanctioninng owed to the WBC for the 168-lb title he won off of Canelo Alvarez last September.
Caviar, Lobster… Then No Bill Paid
Hearn likens Crawford’s behavior to that of a person who goes to a restaurant, eats caviar and lobster, then refuses to pay the bill. In other words, Crawford dined and dashed.
He notes that Terence wanted the right to fight for the undisputed super middleweight championship against Canelo. After he defeated him, Crawford paraded around the ring with the WBC belt, telling fans he’s undisputed. But then refused to pay.
If He Told Them in Advance — No Belt
Hearn states that if Crawford had told the WBC before the fight that he wouldn’t pay the sanctioning fee, they wouldn’t have put their title at stake. If he knew he wasn’t going to pay, it was wrong for him to agree to fight Canelo for that belt.
Terence wasn’t upfront with the WBC to let them know ahead of time that he wouldn’t pay before the fight, which makes him look bad. If he were direct with the WBC from the jump, he wouldn’t be upset with them because he’d have never gotten to fight for their belt. When a person expects special treatment, it won’t work. You’d like to hope that Crawford isn’t going to do this kind of thing outside of the ring, because he’s going to have problems.
0.6% Discount Still Not Enough
Crawford made a big production about the WBC stripping him of his title yesterday, saying that they should have taken what he was willing to give them. He wanted the rules changed so he could be given special treatment. They had already agreed to a smaller percentage of 0.6% instead of the usual 3% of the $50 million he made, which came out to $300,000 rather than $1.5 million.
“This is kind of a sign of the times with TKO. I know Terence is part of that whole crew,” said promoter Eddie Hearn to IFL TV about Terence Crawford being stripped of his WBC super middleweight title after refusing to pay the $300K sanctioning fee.
“What he did was like going out to a restaurant, having all the best caviar and lobsters, and the bill comes, ‘I ain’t paying that.’ And you walk out. You sat down at the table. You wanted to eat the good stuff. You’ve got to pay your dues and pay your bill,” said Hearn.
