Boxing

Boxing Champion Issues Surprising Terence Crawford Retirement Prediction

Could Saturday's superfight against Canelo Alvarez be the end of Terence Crawford's boxing career?
Grant Young|
IMAGO / Torsten Helmke

There are now just five days until the boxing world gets what it has been waiting for for months now: Terence Crawford stepping up several weight classes to compete against Canelo Alvarez for Canelo's undisputed super middleweight belts.

The hype has been building ever since this fight was announced earlier in the year. However, now that it's actually fight week, fans and pundits of the sweet science are letting their excitement show when speaking about this imminent showdown.

What's perhaps most fascinating about this fight's lead-up is that everybody seems to have a different prediction on how the bout will play out. A sizable population of the boxing community is convinced that Canelo's distinct size advantage over Crawford will outweigh any skill advantage Crawford might have over the champion at this point in their respective careers.

Canelo Alvarez (left) and Terence Crawford (right) during the final leg of their Press Tour
Canelo Alvarez (left) and Terence Crawford (right) during the final leg of their Press Tour | IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

Others feel like Crawford is simply the best boxer in the world right now, and his speed and agility advantage will make it so that he has an easy victory over Canelo. Regardless of what fans believe, all eyes will be on Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, on September 13.

Stephen Fulton Makes Fascinating Terence Crawford Prediction

One thing is for certain about this fight: Canelo and Crawford are both making life-changing money. However, this bout seems to be more about legacy than the money for Crawford.

And Stephen Fulton (the reigning WBC featherweight champion and former WBO and WBC super bantamweight champion) shared an interesting take on what Crawford's future will look like if he gets his hand raised on Saturday when speaking with Fight Hub TV on September 7.

“If Crawford wins, the sky is the limit for him. He'll probably retire," Fulton said, per an X post from Fight Hub TV. "Who knows? But if Crawford wins, it makes his resume 10 times better.”

After Fulton's interviewer noted that Crawford has gone on record saying that he'll be a top-five boxer of all-time if he beats Canelo, Fulton added, "That's major... It's hard to become undisputed, m***********! People be hiding, holding belts hostage. Then, when they lose, they want an opportunity."

There's no doubt that Crawford will have nothing left to accomplish in the sport if he beats Canelo, at least in terms of his resumé.

Yet, if he does climb this mountain, he's sure to keep earning staggering amounts of money in future fights, which could be enough to entice him to keep competing for years to come.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young is a Staff Writer for On SI’s Boxing, New York Mets, Indiana Fever, and Women’s Fastbreak sites. Before joining SI in 2024, he wrote for various boxing and sports verticals such as FanBuzz and NY Fights. Young has a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a master’s degree in creative writing with an emphasis on sports nonfiction from the University of San Francisco, where he played five seasons of Division 1 baseball. He fought Muay Thai professionally in Thailand in 2023, loves a good essay, and is driven crazy trying to handle a pitpull puppy named Aura. Young lives in San Diego and was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area.