Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford, Boxing’s No. 1 Pound-for-Pound Fighter, Retires

Crawford (38–0), the unified super middleweight champion, unexpectedly announced his retirement Tuesday in an emotional six-minute video.

Terence Crawford walks to the ring prior to his Sept. 2025 fight against Canelo Alvarez. | Chris Unger/Getty Images

Terence Crawford, the unified super middleweight champion and pound-for-pound No. 1 fighter in boxing, announced his retirement on Tuesday.

Crawford, 38, announced his exit in a six-minute video posted to his YouTube channel. In the video Crawford thanked friends and family, saying “the sport gave me everything,” adding that “I did it all my way.” Crawford (42–0) retires as a five-division world champion, the only male fighter to go undisputed in three weight divisions in the four-belt era.

“Every fighter knows this moment will come,” Crawford said. “I've made peace with what's next. And now it's time.”

Crawford’s retirement was unexpected. In September, Crawford defeated Canelo Alvarez to claim undisputed status at 168 pounds. In Crawford’s first fight at 168—and just his second above 147—he was masterful, outboxing Alvarez over 12 rounds. Against Alvarez, the naturally bigger fighter, Crawford landed more punches (115–99, per CompuBox) as well as a higher percentage of power shots (33.7% to 31.9%).

One month ago today, Terence Crawford and Canelo Alvarez put on a show in the fight of the century 🤩 pic.twitter.com/sfAl10kEJZ
— Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) October 13, 2025

There had been talks for a rematch with Alvarez, with Alvarez’s trainer, Eddy Reynoso, revealing last week Alvarez’s intention to pursue one in 2026. In November, Crawford was approached by a representative for Jake Paul about fighting Paul in December. There have also been discussions about Crawford headlining a Riyadh Season event in the first half of next year.

Instead, Crawford will walk away after a 17-year career that spanned five weight classes.

“I'm stepping away from competition, not because I'm done fighting, but because I've won a different kind of battle,” said Crawford. “The one where you walk away on your own terms. This isn't goodbye. It's just the end of one fight and the beginning of another.”