The World Boxing Council (WBC) might be sweating right now—and for good reason. Their decision to strip Terence Crawford of his belt has officially made its way into the U.S. House of Representatives. Crawford defeated Canelo Alvarez in September to collect all four belts and become the undisputed super middleweight champion. Earlier this week, however, the WBC claimed that Crawford hadn’t paid the sanctioning fees for his last two fights.

Normally, fighters pay 3% of their purse to the sanctioning body. But for the Canelo fight, where Crawford reportedly earned $50 million, the WBC reduced it to just 0.6%, or $300,000. Despite that, Crawford failed to pay the fees. And the organization chose to strip him of the belt and ordered Hamzah Sheeraz vs. Christian Mbilli for the now-vacant title. Days later, Congressman Randy Fine (R-FL) raised the issue in a U.S. House hearing. Why is Washington interested?

WBC and Terence Crawford get roped into the Muhammad Ali Revival Act 

While addressing the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections’ session titled “In Their Corner: Creating More Opportunities for American Boxers” on December 4, 2025, Fine highlighted the positive aspects of the Muhammad Ali Revival Act. It aims to reform professional boxing by improving fighter protections, pay, safety standards, and innovation—including the adoption of a UFC-like unified promotion model to address issues such as sanctioning body fees.

Speaking to Mr. Patrick English, a Washington, D.C.–based attorney and principal partner at Dines & English LLC, Fine pointed to the recent situation involving Terence Crawford to strengthen the case for updating the Ali Act. “Terence Bud Crawford was stripped of his championship belt by a sanctioning organization. Are you aware of that?” he asked English, who opposed the new Muhammad Ali Revival Act. “There are pretty big problems with what goes on today.”

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Mr. English testified as a witness in Panel 2 of the December 4 hearing on the proposed Muhammad Ali Revival Act. As one of the original architects of the 2000 Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act, he explained efforts to curb exploitative practices by strengthening protections against promoters and sanctioning bodies. Fine referenced English’s research to challenge claims of a 50% decline in U.S. boxing events, noting that the number of cards remains consistent with previous decades.

Overall, English opposed several provisions of the Muhammad Ali Revival Act, arguing that it could pave the way for monopolistic control by unified boxing organizations (UBOs), erode safeguards established in 2000. Other panel witnesses included UFC COO Lawrence Epstein and California State Athletic Commission executive director Andy Foster.

TKO Group, the parent company of Zuffa Boxing, has already voiced strong support for the bill’s amendments. The Crawford vs. Canelo fight served as the inaugural event for Zuffa, which will be led by UFC CEO Dana White and is scheduled to formally launch next year. Support has also come from the California State Athletic Commission and Muhammad Ali’s widow, Lonnie Ali.

As for Crawford himself, he recently went on a profanity-filled rant against the WBC and its president, Mauricio Sulaiman. However, not everyone feels Crawford handled the situation in the best way possible.

Eddie Hearn on the Terence Crawford and WBC feud

Eddie Hearn didn’t like the way Terence Crawford handled the WBC situation. Offering what he called an impartial insider view, Hearn said Crawford took full advantage of the opportunity to fight Canelo Alvarez for the undisputed title, only to walk away from the responsibilities that came with it. 

“What [Crawford] did is a little bit like going out to a restaurant, having all the best caviar and lobsters, and the bill comes, and you go ‘I ain’t paying that,’” Hearn said. He insisted that if a fighter wants that status, he has to abide by the rules.

That said, it appears Eddie Hearn isn’t exactly thrilled about fighters keeping every dollar they earn while putting their lives on the line. He expects Crawford to hand over $300,000, a life-changing amount of money, to an organization that has failed to enforce mandatory fights and is often accused of corruption, all because they supplied a belt. What do you think?