“Every fighter knows this moment will come. We just don’t know when.” With those words, three-division undisputed champion and five-division world champion Terence Crawford announced his retirement from boxing.
There seemed to be no hint, although we can now read between the lines of an Instagram post two days ago in which Crawford wrote, “What more can I saw? Just wait…”
In a highly produced five-minute YouTube video posted on Tuesday night, Crawford let the world know he was hanging up the gloves.
Crawford retires with a perfect record after winning the most significant fight in decades to define modern boxing history and personal legacy by defeating Mexican superstar Canelo Álvarez in front of 70,482 fans at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas and a worldwide audience on Netflix.
As Sugar Ray Leonard did against Thomas Hearns, Crawford of Omaha, Nebraska (42-0, 31 KOs) proved himself an all-time great boxer by moving up two weight divisions and disarming Álvarez of Guadalajara (63-3-2, 39 KOs) in a thrilling performance.
But it was hardly the only major accomplishment of a brilliant career for the Fighting Pride of Omaha, Nebraska.
The Fighting Pride of Omaha
Size didn’t matter. Inactivity didn’t matter. His lack of social media presence didn’t matter. His prickly relationship with the media didn’t matter. Living a quiet life in the heartland of America in Omaha, Nebraska, didn’t matter. Crawford lined up all the objections and knocked them down with conviction.
But it took the matchup with Canelo Álvarez and also his epic breakthrough against Errol Spence Jr. in 2019 to bring the best out of Crawford, and he takes time to thank his opponents in his farewell.
Now at age 38, Crawford made the call, at least for now, to end his career. Fans are jaded after repeated retirement announcements have proved to be false flags. I firmly believe this one will stick for Terence Crawford.
Will Terence Crawford Retirement Stick?
Most experts and fans expected rematches between Crawford and Spence Jr. and between Crawford and Álvarez. Crawford walked away from significant money in both cases.
Money wasn’t enough to motivate him. This tells you everything you need to know about Crawford. He performed at his very best when pushed to be his best by the human factor, an opponent who made him work for it.
It is that Midwestern work ethic that has fueled Crawford, an intrinsic reward no one else can provide to you, leaving you with a pride no one can ever question, challenge, or take away. This is what Crawford walks away with, along with his health, his family, and generational wealth.
In his farewell, Crawford said, “I’m stepping away from competition not because I’m done fighting but because I’ve won a different kind of battle,” he said. “The one where you walk away on your own terms.”
The only possible accomplishment left to Crawford, which he hinted at after the victory over Canelo, is to move to middleweight and pick up one more title in a sixth division. But it wouldn’t be a record, and given the beltholders in the division, it wouldn’t be enough of a challenge. The money isn’t really there. So, Crawford let that idea go.
Upon defeating Álvarez in September, Crawford “I told y’all, I’m not here just by a coincidence. God blessed me,” said Crawford of his victory. “And he made this event. He made this night, just for me. And I been telling you all that it’s not me. It’s God.”
God may have given Crawford the tools to succeed, but Crawford took those tools, did the hard work, and put himself in the position to win a fight most people considered nothing more than a fantasy league fight until it happened. But Crawford has always defied expectations, and as he said in his farewell, providing the doubters wrong fueled his entire career.
It’s dangerous to use the terms “always” or “never” in journalism. But I’ll break that rule here. Crawford retires undefeated with a first for the sport of boxing that will never be matched. He is the first fighter in men’s boxing to become a three-weight division undisputed world champion in the four-belt era: undisputed at Super-Lightweight, Welterweight, and finally at Super-Middleweight.
Crawford is also a four-division lineal champion, an honor he shares with Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. Finally, he is also be one of only six male fighters to ever win titles in five divisions, after Mayweather, Pacquiao, Thomas Hearns, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Oscar De La Hoya.
Crawford walks away on his own terms, in full control of his life and his future, with all the tools needed to do whatever he wants to do. Perhaps he will remain part of the Omaha camp with trainer Brian McIntyre, working with other fighters and mentoring their careers.
Crawford, once a talented high school wrestler, trains his sons in wrestling, and he may choose to work at the youth level, just as Philip Rivers has been coaching his own sons’ high school football team. There is no higher calling in sports than to guide the next generation to greatness. Whatever he decides to do, for all of us who have covered Terence Crawford as an athlete over the years, it’s been an honor to do so.
Terence Crawford Retirement: Full Statement
“Every fighter knows this moment will come. You just never know when.
“I’ve spent my whole life chasing something, not belts, not money, not headlines, but that feeling, the one you get when the world doubts you, but you keep showing up and you keep proving everyone wrong.
“This sport gave me everything. I fought for my family, I fought for my city. I fought for the kid I used to be, the one who had nothing but a dream and a pair of gloves, and I did it all my way.
“I gave this sport, every breath I had, every scar, every triumph, every ounce of my heart.
“And I’ve made peace with what’s next. Now, it’s time.
“Thank you to my opponents who pushed me to places I didn’t know I could go, to the fans who believed in me when they didn’t have to. You made this journey something I carry with pride for the rest of my life.
“To my haters, to the people that didn’t believe, thank you. Because without you, without having that fire in my gut to prove each and every one of you wrong, you pushed me to heights that I never thought I’ll reach.
“Thank you, Turki, Sela, and Riyadh, not just for believing in me and making history with me, but for what you continue to do for the sport of boxing.
“TKO, thank you for being my first promotional company that believed in me when nobody else did.
To Top Rank, thank you for helping me become a champion.
“Bomac, Red, Saul, Bernard, Edge, Minor Chet, Ashley, Dr. Conroy, my little brother Wayne, Carl, Mac, McDoyle, Paulina, Denise, Michelle, Jamie, Dez, Matt Levy, Steven Nelson, my brother from day one, Ish, Harrison, Julie, Jessica. I don’t view you just as members of my team. I view you as members of my family.
“My sisters, my nephew, Grandma, thank you for your love and support over the years,
“Mom, thank you for the tough lessons. You built a mentally strong, resilient man.
“Dad, thank you for the support. You were the first person to say that I was going to be a Million Dollar Baby and that I would one day be a world champion.
“To my kids, to Mia, Little T, Iris, Alaya, Kari, Trinity, Zaire, you are my legacy.
“I’m stepping away from competition, not because I’m done fighting, but because I’ve won a different kind of battle, 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.”
Gayle Falkenthal is an award-winning boxing journalist and the only woman journalist who is a full voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA). She is the Managing Editor for NY Fights based in San Diego, California.