Britain’s Hamzah Sheeraz has been mandated for a world title shot after Terence Crawford was stripped of the WBC super-middleweight championship.
Crawford, an outstanding welterweight, leapt up three divisions to stun Canelo Alvarez and become the undisputed world champion, winning all four of the major titles at 168lbs.
But the WBC have stripped Crawford of their world title, reportedly due to him failing to pay their sanctioning fees.
Sheeraz has now been mandated to fight Canada's Christian Mbilli for the WBC super-middleweight championship. The winner of that fight would then need to defend against Lester Martinez.
Explaining why Crawford's title was removed, the WBC stated he was put "on notice regarding his failure to comply with express mandates of the WBC rules and regulations; specifically the non-payment of the boxer's bout fees for his last two fights: against Israil Madrimov and against Saul Alvarez."
WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman told SportNews: "It is a difficult day when the WBC has to take a decision of withdrawing recognition of a champion, it's very unfortunate. We wish Terence Crawford the best of luck in his career inside and outside the ring. He had every opportunity to discuss and he decided not to respond whatsoever so the WBC had to take the action.
"We have now Mbilli to fight Sheeraz for the vacant title and the winner fighting Lester Martinez."
Sheeraz went on a run of fearsome knockout wins at middleweight, that encompassed rapid victories over Liam Williams and Tyler Denny. He fought for the WBC middleweight title earlier this year, but struggled to a draw against Carlos Adames.
He moved up to super-middleweight and bounced back with a dominant victory over Edgar Berlanga in July.
A spokesperson for Sheeraz's promoter Queensberry told SportNews: "We welcome this news for Hamzah to have the opportunity to become a world champion.
"Hamzah is in a great position with all of the sanctioning bodies, so we will be sitting down with the team shortly to discuss the best next move for him and his career.
"Hamzah is already one of the biggest talents in the sport, as he showed last time out when he destroyed Edgar Berlanga after moving up to 168lbs, and when he becomes world champion in 2026 he will become a true global superstar."
