Boxing

Terence Crawford Sends Cryptic 2-Word Retirement Message After Canelo Alvarez Fight

Retirement is on Terence Crawford's mind after his historic victory over Canelo Alvarez.
Grant Young|
Terence Crawford on September 9, 2025.
Terence Crawford on September 9, 2025. | IMAGO / Hoganphotos

Every boxing fan in the world knows that Terence "Bud" Crawford produced a unanimous decision win over Canelo Alvarez on September 13 (with the judges' scorecards reading 116-112, 115-113, and 115-113), thus making Crawford the undisputed super middleweight champion and the first male boxer in history to become an undisputed champion in three different weight classes.

In the lead-up to this fight, there was a lot of discussion about what both a win and a loss would mean for Crawford's legacy. Many asserted that, despite Crawford being the underdog and a physically smaller man against Canelo, his not getting his hand raised would be an asterisk on the otherwise pristine resumé that Crawford has.

In that same light, many in the sport said that a victory over another legend like Canelo would cement Crawford's place as one of the greatest of all time in the sweet science. Ultimately, the latter came true, and Crawford successfully climbed the highest mountain.

MORE: Turki Alalshikh Proposes Terence Crawford's Next Superfight Following Canelo Alvarez Win

However, reaching a mountain's summit means that there's only going down from there. And ever since this victory, there has been speculation about Crawford potentially retiring, given that he has accomplished everything he could have accomplished in the sport (except for making more money).

Terence Crawford Addresses Retirement Chatter After Win vs. Canelo Alvarez

Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford
IMAGO / PxImages

Crawford was the guest on a September 15 episode of The Ariel Helwani Show. And at one point in their discussion, Crawford was asked at point blank whether he's considering retirement right now.

"I don't know," Crawford said when asked if he can say definitely that he's going to fight again in his career, per an X post from Uncrowned. Helwani then asked Crawford whether that decision is still up in the air, and he said, "It's still up in the air."

"Could be," Crawford added when asked if the Canelo fight could really have been his last. "I'm just saying, it could be, it may not be. You know? I don't want to say that it is, I don't want to say that it ain't, and then it is."

Helwani then suggested that Crawford needed more credit for being a good businessman because he believes that Crawford was only saying this as a negotiation tactic to make more money for future fights.

Fans are hoping Helwani's assessment of Crawford's response it correct, because it would be a shame to see Crawford call it a career when he's still at the top of the mountain.

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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.