Terence Crawford has moved on to the 154-pound division, and now, it appears he plans to stay there. The undefeated Omaha, Nebraska native recently claimed the WBA light middleweight title by defeating Israil Madrimov. Reports indicate that ‘Bud’ has now vacated his WBA ‘Super’ welterweight title at 147 pounds, leaving Eimantas Stanionis as the sole WBA champion in that division. 

Eimantas Stanionis is likely to be elevated to the ‘Super’ champion status, with Brian Norman Jr. expected to become the ‘regular’ champion. While this might seem like great news for the unbeaten Lithuanian boxer, the reaction on social media has been anything but positive. Earlier today, Dan The Boxing Man shared the update on X, and let’s just say, the opinions came pouring in.

What’s next for Terence Crawford?

“TERENCE CRAWFORD VACATES SUPER WBA TITLE AT 147. NOW EIMANTES STANIONIS IS THE SOLE WBA CHAMPION AT 147,” wrote Dan The Boxing Man. With this decision, Crawford now has several intriguing paths ahead. Not that long ago, the WBO ordered Sebastian Fundora to defend his WBC and WBO super-welterweight titles in a unification bout against Crawford—a fight that could solidify Crawford’s dominance in the division.

Another option is a highly anticipated showdown with Vergil Ortiz Jr., as revealed by His Excellency Turki Alalshikh. Not to mention, Canelo Alvarez, whom Crawford has publicly stated is his top target, has shown interest in a potential matchup despite his ongoing dispute with the Saudi Royal. Amid these developments, Eimantas Stanionis finds himself in an unexpected position, becoming an unwitting subject of ridicule as the spotlight comes to him.

Eimantas Stanionis won’t like this

You see, the thing is, fans wanted Crawford to move to 154 pounds, but they didn’t expect someone else to get awarded Crawford’s belt. Take this user for example, who didn’t wait long to pass judgment on the 30-year-old. The user wrote, “Email champ.” This usually happens when boxers vacate their titles in one division to move to another. When Devin Haney moved to 140 pounds, Gervonta Davis was elevated to the WBA ‘Super’ title in the lightweight division. 

Another user explained they were unbothered by this development. “Lol who cares we want him to move up to 154,” the user wrote. It’s worth mentioning that fans have been advocating for a fight against Canelo, which can only happen if Crawford steadily moves up in weight. 

Meanwhile, this user took things too far by sharing their take on the matter, which though factually correct, seems slightly insulting. “Damn, every champ at 147 is an email champion. That’s wild. It’s not really their fault but still,” the user wrote. Jaron Ennis became the IBF champion after ‘Bud’ was stripped. Mario Barrios became the WBC champion after Crawford vacated, and the case is the same for Brian Norman Jr, the WBO champion. So the user isn’t wrong here in calling them email champ.

Even the next user didn’t seem too broken up about Stanionis’ promotion. “We off that, tell boots to meet us at 154 lol,” the user wrote. Interestingly, Ennis has wanted to face Crawford since he got Crawford’s IBF belt.

One user roped in Devin Haney in the conversation. The user remarked, “Haney started this email champ s**t.” Notably, Haney never actually fought for the WBC lightweight belt. Instead, it was simply awarded to him in 2019, and he found out about it through an email. 

While Eimantas Stanionis might not like comments from the public, the good news is Terence Crawford seems to have committed to 154 pounds. And now, the possibility of Crawford becoming an undisputed champion in a third weight class is becoming exciting. What do you think his next move should be?