Terence Crawford may never have faced Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez if he had gone through with plans to retire almost three years ago.
Crawford is set to do battle with the undisputed super middleweight champion, Canelo, in their 13 September super-fight, a pound-for-pound contest for the ages.
‘Bud’ will now enter his fifth division after jumping up two weight classes to take the contest with the Mexican great.
This bout has split experts and former world champions down the middle, with some questioning Alvarez’s recent form and others believing the American’s power won’t work on the experienced champion.
Terence Crawford once revealed plans to retire before his biggest career win, but now he faces Canelo Alvarez
It is a contest with too many intangibles, with the factor of weight playing a huge part, given that Crawford’s last super welterweight fight pushed him to the limit in a unanimous decision victory over Israil Madrimov.
However, in his career-best performances, especially the Errol Spence Jr undisputed win, it is hard to count out the multi-weight modern legend from pulling off this difficult task.
It was likely that the 37-year-old would never have had the incredible Spence Jr win or the opportunity to take on Canelo because of his plan to retire from the sport.
In an appearance on the Porter Way podcast, he revealed to his former rival that before the offer for the fight with Errol was on the table, the Omaha boxer was ready to hang up the gloves.
He said: “I was going to retire if I didn’t get this Errol Spence fight. I told everybody prior to me getting the fight. I was like man, I got a lot of great investments, I really don’t need boxing. I said if I can’t get that fight, I think I might just hang it up, and everybody was just like why?
“I’m 35 years old, I’ve been doing this since I was seven years old. I really don’t have nothing to prove I’ll be 36 next month, so I was kind of down but then everything just started moving for me.”
His legacy in the sport would have been much different if he had decided to call time on his career, missing out on a second undisputed title and a third divisional belt.
Although when the offer came in, the star said his whole perspective changed and he only wanted to fight two opponents.
“I’m about to get this fight, and I just got excited about boxing again, and then I was like I want Errol, then I want Jermell,” Crawford said.
“Two history-making fights I really want, and that’s something that I’ve been saying that I wanted for a long time, and for that to come to fruition, all I got is Jermell now that I need to solidify myself as the all-time great of all boxing.”
Will Terence Crawford ever face Jermell Charlo?
A fight with Jermell Charlo had always been seen as one of the best matchups to make in the US.
But following Charlo’s defeat to the next opponent of ‘Bud’, Canelo, two years ago, he has not competed since then.
In a recent Instagram post, the ‘Iron Man’ claimed he was going to come back ‘sharper than ever’ after he chose to take time away from the sport.
He has targeted fights with Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, Sebastian Fundora, and Errol Spence Jr, who are all current or former world champions.
The likelihood of the contest ever happening is slim, with indications that Crawford will retire after the super-fight.
His trainer also poured cold water on the fight in a recent interview with Ring Magazine, claiming it was ‘too late’ for Charlo after he was beaten by Alvarez.