Terry Flanagan Vacates WBO Lightweight Title
Terence Crawford’s announcement that he’ll vacate the WBO junior welterweight title has caused another WBO world champion to vacate his title and challenge for Crawford’s now vacant title.
Terry Flanagan vacated his WBO lightweight title to move up in weight and challenge for the junior welterweight title. As a result, the WBO announced during its annual convention that Flanagan is now the mandatory challenger for the 140-pound title. Flanagan likely will be ordered to face Maurice Hooker for the vacant junior welterweight title. Hooker is the WBO-NABO junior welterweight champion and ranked No. 1 in the WBO’s official rankings.
As for who could potentially fight for the vacant lightweight title, the WBO plans to order Raymundo Beltran to face former lightweight titleholder Paulus Moses for the lightweight belt vacated by Flanagan.
The move comes as a surprise, as Flanagan was in talks with lightweight champion Jorge Linares in a unification. Flanagan had also been trying to get a fight with longtime mandatory challenger Felix Verdejo, but injuries to both sides has derailed that fight numerous times.
Flanagan won the title in 2015 and has defended the title five times. Flanagan hasn’t fought since beating Petr Petrov back in April. The lightweight division now only has Robert Easter Jr. (IBF), Mikey Garcia (WBC) and Linares (WBA) as the remaining major world champions.
Crawford vacated his junior welterweight title to take a crack at the welterweight world champion, Jeff Horn. Crawford previously unified all four world titles at junior welterweight.
