WBC president Mauricio Suleiman has broken his silence on the decision to declare Shakur Stevenson’s WBC lightweight world title “vacant,” just days after his career win over Teofimo Lopez.

Stevenson moved up from lightweight (where he won the WBC belt in November 2023) to super lightweight to challenge Teofimo Lopez for the WBO title. Although he seems happy with his weight and is having the best performance of his career, it is understood that getting down to 135 pounds is not impossible.

However, just four days after the victory, the WBC announced that Stevenson was no longer the lightweight champion. talking Chris Mannix Suleiman gave his side of the story about the controversial move.

“We got a call from (Stevenson’s) management and they asked the WBC to let Shakur Stevenson fight in a different weight class while retaining the lightweight title… They even asked for a special belt for the fight.

“We clearly explained that this was within the WBC rules and I was happy to communicate that to the board and make it happen because Shakur has been associated since 2019. I told his management that they needed to send a written request to start all processes. We have had several more conversations since then. They were supposed to send a written request but that didn’t happen.”

Suleiman said he still raised the demand for the Lopez fight at the annual general meeting and received a yes vote, but insisted to Stevenson’s team that the WBC still requires “everything to be in writing.” He continued to make requests, even having Matchroom Boxing act as a promoter for the event, but ultimately “never received any final authorization in writing.”

It’s because of these circumstances that he refuted the idea that Stevenson was “stripped” of the belt – semantics that many would disagree with.

“We did not strip Shakur. (His) management chose not to comply, and they ultimately relinquished the title because of non-compliance. We have documented everything in writing.”

Stevenson initially responded to the newshe revealed that a payment of US$100,000 (later corrected to US$120,000) was requested in exchange for authorization, in accordance with the sanctions body’s rules. Suleiman confirmed and insisted on this.

“That’s accurate… What we sent was that the WBC approved your application for the fight and the fee was $120,000 under WBC rules, which was 3 percent less than what it should have been… By the way, they could have contacted us and said ‘we’re doing this’ – and we’ve adjusted the sanction fee several times… It’s not a matter of money, it’s a matter of rules. Of course, a fighter recognized by the WBC as a world champion is valid and has a seal. He has a place in the world of boxing at that time.”

Neither side seems to be backing down on what the other feels is the right move, and it’s unclear whether Stevenson will actively avoid competing for the WBC belt in the future.

What is clear is that the WBC controversy comes at an increasingly tumultuous time for the sport, especially given that Dana White and Zuffa Boxing have moved into the purview of a system without reliance on the four major sanctioning bodies.