Crawford Faces Tough Choice Between Defending His Undisputed 168 Titles or Giving Them Up to Avoid Hungry Mandatories Like Sheeraz and Iglesias

Hamzah Sheeraz wants to fight Terence Crawford for his undisputed titles or for any of the belts if he chooses to vacate one or more.

Will Crawford Vacate Again?

He expects Crawford to give up his titles. If not, Sheeraz (22-0-1, 18 KOs) is the WBC mandatory and #2 ranked WBO. The #1 IBF mandatory is Osleys Iglesias. Crawford is going to have to make a big decision soon if he wants to keep his titles because he’s facing two tough mandatory challengers. 

Terence (42-0, 31 KOs) captured the undisputed super middleweight championship from Canelo Alvarez last month on September 13th in Las Vegas. He hasn’t said anything about wanting to defend the titles.

Crawford’s possible reasons for not vacating the belts right away:

• Canelo Alvarez rematch lure
• Defend them
• Marketability
• Not being forced to defend yet

The Risk of Defending at 38

Once the IBF or WBC orders Crawford to defend his belts against Osleys or Sheeraz, we could see him begin to vacate. Those are not sure-thing fights for a 38-year-old who lacks the size and power to defend the belts against contenders like that. Those guys are not old and washed like Canelo.

“I’m assuming Crawford is going to vacate. And if the belts become vacant, I’ll fight anyone for them belts to become a world champion. So, that would be an ideal situation,” said Hamzah Sheeraz to Ring Magazine.

Holding Belts for Status

Crawford won’t vacate until his feet are put to the fire by one of the sanctioning bodies. Like with his WBA 154-lb title that he recently vacated, Crawford will hold onto the belts as long as possible for superficial status purposes. They’re like trophies of war, but without much meaning, given how shot Canelo is at this point in his career. But if he’s ordered to defend them, you’ll see him give them up. Iglesias and Sheera are too big and powerful for Terence to fight them without a high probability of losing in the worst way possible.

“And then if he doesn’t vacate, maybe I’ll get the opportunity to fight him or earn the opportunity to fight him because I’m mandatory for the WBC. I think I’ve got a good position with the WBO as well,” said Sheeraz about his interest in challenging Terence Crawford for his belts at 168.

Written by Nation Vegas, Boxing Analyst covering world title fights since 2013.