Terence Crawford officially called time on his career in December 2025, walking away from boxing at 38 with an unblemished record.
Despite consistently saying he will not return, he has now been mentioned as a replacement for the year’s biggest main event.
Crawford’s retirement came three months after his career-defining victory over Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez in Las Vegas, where the Nebraska southpaw jumped up two weight divisions to claim the undisputed super-middleweight crown.
In doing so, Crawford became the first male fighter in the four-belt era to achieve undisputed status across three weight classes.
Naturally, the five-weight world champion has been repeatedly linked with high-profile comebacks.
Boxing powerbroker Turki Alalshikh has expressed interest in both a rematch with Canelo as well as a grudge match with WBC welterweight champion Ryan Garcia, who has done his best to goad Crawford into a fight.
Despite ‘Bud’ previously shutting this down, Ring Magazine’s Mike Coppinger has now reported that Crawford-Garcia could replace the long-awaited Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua fight in December.
“Tyson Fury-Anthony Joshua could be called off due to issues, according to sources, and a replacement fight between Terence Crawford and Ryan Garcia is being considered.”
Tyson Fury-Anthony Joshua could be called off due to issues, according to sources, and a replacement fight between Terence Crawford and Ryan Garcia is being considered.
— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) September 25, 2026
Fury-Joshua was finally announced this week after a decade of brewing rivalry and, more recently, months of dispute over the location of the fight.
It is now booked for December 11 in Cardiff, but the issues behind the scenes appear far from over. In particular, the inclusion of Dana White is a major sticking point, with Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn claiming that their contract prohibits White’s involvement.
When Netflix announced that the American will play a key part in the event, Hearn immediately said that it was an issue that would need to be sorted before further promotion took place.
While many fans would like to see Crawford return for one more fight, the general consensus is that this could be a bluff from the promotion – Ring Magazine – rather than anything concrete. The ‘issues’, and how they might lead to a contracted bout being cancelled, remain unclear.
If one man has what it takes to tempt ‘Bud’ back, it is Alalshikh. That happening in conjunction with the cancellation of the biggest fight in British boxing remains unlikely.
