Terence Crawford officially bids farewell to welterweight, Brian Norman elevated to WBO champion

Terence Crawford’s days of fighting at welterweight are officially over.

After becoming the undisputed world champion at 147lbs in July 2023, Crawford was stripped of his IBF title a few months later, much to his dismay. This decision elevated interim belt holder Jaron Ennis to full champion status.

A similar scenario unfolded for Mario Barrios two months ago when he was upgraded to the official WBC green and gold titlist after holding the interim title for nine months. The WBO followed suit on August 12 after Crawford informed them of his departure from the welterweight division.

In a recent fight, the 36-year-old Crawford defeated Israil Madrimov to win the WBA super-welterweight world title in Los Angeles. This victory added to his impressive list of accomplishments, which includes winning world titles in four weight classes and becoming undisputed in two of them.

Crawford’s decision benefits Brian Norman Jr, who, like Ennis and Barrios, now holds full recognition as a welterweight champion after the WBO promoted him. The 23-year-old Norman Jr earned his status by defeating Giovanni Santillan in May. This development may lead to a potential matchup with Teofimo Lopez, who expressed interest in moving to the welterweight division and facing his Top Rank stablemate.

With Crawford’s exit, the welterweight division is now seeing a shift towards new faces. Ennis, Barrios, and Norman Jr are now the leading figures at welterweight, with the expectation that Eimantas Stanionis will join them once Crawford is stripped of their world welterweight title.