Terence Crawford Reveals What Stopped Him From Pursuing Another Undisputed Title

Ending his career by moving up two weight classes to win another undisputed title in one of the biggest fights of the century was the best-case scenario for Terence Crawford, but his career was one small step away from rivaling the greatest of all time.

Crawford ultimately retired on top after beating Canelo Alvarez to conquer a third division, but he revealed he briefly considered pursuing another weight class before making the decision.

Crawford wanted to drop down and conquer the middleweight division before IBF and WBO 160-pound champion Janibek Alimkhanuly failed a PED test and received a one-year suspension.

"At first I was like, alright, go down to 160 and do it again," Crawford said, via Jai McAllister on YouTube. "[I would've been] four-division undisputed, but Janibek popped. Whoever would've won [Janibek vs. Erislandy Lara] would've had three of the titles. It just was a thought, like, 'You can do it again.' Go down to 160 and dare to be great; fight for something that's meaningful."

Terence Crawford had thoughts of going to 160 to become a 4x undisputed champion before retiring, but backed off after Janibek Alimkhanuly popped for a PED 👀

“At first I was like, go down to 160, and do it again. But Janibek popped.”

Via (@JaiMcAllisterx) pic.twitter.com/Fd0qFLwfg9
— Source of Boxing (@Sourceofboxing) March 31, 2026

Crawford's win over Alvarez made him the only three-division undisputed champion in the four-belt era. He previously conquered super lightweight with an undisputed title win over Julius Indongo in 2017, six years before he took out Errol Spence Jr. to reign over the welterweight division.

While fans know Crawford still has a lot of fight left in him, the 38-year-old has already accomplished more than anyone could have imagined. The estimated $50 million he made from fighting Alvarez certainly helped him comfortably close the door on retirement.

Janibek Alimkhanuly suspension lingers over middleweight division

Janibek Alimkhanuly and Alexander Vaughn — Janibek Alimkhanuly won a split decision over Alexander Vaughn Saturday night during Top Rank Boxing at the Don Haskins Center. Top Rank Boxing In El Paso 4 | Mark Lambie / El Paso Times

Alimkhanuly was suspended within a week of his scheduled fight with WBA champion Erislandy Lara, which would have unified three of the four primary middleweight titles. Instead, Lara defended the WBA belt against short-notice replacement Johan Gonzalez, and Alimkhanuly was stripped of his IBF belt, though he remains the WBO titleholder.

The Janibek-Lara fight would have been three months after Crawford's statement win over Alvarez. 'Bud' announced his retirement 10 days after Lara beat Gonzalez with an emotional video on social media.

Alimkhanuly's suspension disrupted the momentum at middleweight, leading to three champions and one vacant middleweight title. Although Crawford would be a healthy favorite over anyone at 160 pounds, he admittedly does not have four fights left in him, which convinced him to walk away.

For Alimkhanuly, the suspension only gets worse with Crawford's revelation. He was a sizable favorite over Lara and would have been in line for the biggest and most lucrative fight of his career, but he has now lost one of his titles and likely will not fight until 2027.