Boxing

The Boxing World Is All Saying The Same Thing About Terence Crawford’s Next Move

Is this really the move likely next career move for Terence Crawford?
Grant Young|
IMAGO / Hoganphotos

One of the biggest stories in the boxing world right now is what Terence Crawford is going to do next after his dominant unanimous decision win against Canelo Alvarez last month.

With that win, Crawford became the undisputed super middleweight champion, thus making him the first male boxer to become undisputed in three different weight divisions. Not to mention that this victory over the arguable face of boxing skyrocketed Crawford's star power, making him known in the mainstream sports world and heightening his profile within the sweet science.

Crawford's sustained dominance over several weight divisions makes it so he has all the options in the world regarding his next fight. He could stay at 168 pounds to rematch Canelo, drop back down to 154 pounds, or even jump up to the 174-pound division to fight Dmitry Bivol, David Benavidez, or Artur Beterbiev.

Or Crawford could call it a career and hang up the gloves for good. And given that he just turned 38 years old (and now has more money than he knows what to do with after his success against Canelo), this option surely is looking more and more appealing by the day.

Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford on September 11, 2025.
Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford on September 11, 2025. | IMAGO / Hoganphotos

ESPN Gets 'Real' When Predicting Terence Crawford's Next Career Move

On October 2, ESPN's Andreas Hale wrote an article titled, 'Boxing real or Not'. When it came to Terence Crawford, he answered the statement, "Terence Crawford's next fight will be at 160 pounds," by asserting that this was "Real" — so long as he decides to fight again.

Hale went on to note that Crawford would have a chance to win a championship in a sixth division if he moved down to 160 pounds (which he skipped over to face Canelo).

While Hale's sentiment makes sense, Crawford would probably be sacrificing money to make this career move, as there's no big name in the 160-pound middleweight division. Plus, the path to him winning an undisputed title at middleweight is murky because there are currently three champions there.

That being said, two of these champions (Janibek Alimkhanuly and Erislandy Lara) are supposed to be fighting in December. So if Crawford were to fight the third champion (Carlos Adames, WBC) and win, he could presumably face the winner of Alimkhanuly vs. Lara for the undisputed middleweight titles in 2026.

That said, Hale isn't the first to raise this subject, as fans immediately took to X to debate the possibility when the fight was announced on October 2.

Therefore, it's all up to what Crawford wants to do with the time remaining in his career. Or he could call it quits now and sail off into the sunset as an all-time great.

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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.