Terence Crawford has revealed that he was close to fighting on after his victory over Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez.
‘Bud’ Crawford beat Canelo in September 2025, winning the undisputed super-middleweight title to cement his legacy. It marked a title in a fifth weight class and a third undisputed reign for the switch hitter from Omaha, Nebraska.
Crawford has been open about the reasons behind hanging up the gloves just months on from that win, citing tough training camps and the feeling that he had done it all in the sport of boxing.
However, the 38-year-old recently told Jai McAllister that there was one fight he was considering before a failed doping test changed everything.
“Now we beat Canelo. Now what? At first, I was like well, go down to 160 and do it again. [Six weight champion] and four division undisputed. But Janibek popped. Whoever would have won that fight [against Erislandy Lara] they would’ve had three of the titles. So it was just like, I’m not… It just was a thought. You can do it again, go down to 160, dare to be great and fight for something that’s meaningful.
“Even though their names wasn’t the biggest, Janibek is a dangerous challenge. That’s what we do it for. I knew, going over there, fighting Janibek, people would’ve been tuning in to that type of fight. Especially if had somehow beat Carlos Adames, and [became] undisputed. Then you undisputed vs undisputed. It didn’t happen. So, you know what, I was like this is God telling me you ain’t got nothing left to prove.”
IBF and WBO middleweight champion Alimkhanuly was scheduled to face Erislandy Lara, who holds the WBA belt, on December 6 in San Antonio last year.
Just days before the bout, the undefeated Kazakh tested positive for Meldonium – a performance-enhancing drug on the banned list due to its ability to boost an athlete’s endurance. Lara instead defended his belt against Johan Gonzalez and the belts remained split. Alimkhanuly bizarrely remains WBO middleweight champion despite serving a suspension with the sanctioning body. An interim belt has been introduced in his absence. He has been stripped of his IBF title.
With no quick route to all four titles at 160, Crawford’s mind was made up. On December 17, he announced his retirement from the sport.
