Terence Crawford retired in December last year, hanging up the gloves as an undefeated five-weight world champion.
The switch-hitter from Omaha, Nebraska, bowed out from boxing after a stellar win over Mexican icon Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, relinquishing the undisputed super-middleweight world title.
At 38 years old, perhaps the biggest fight available for Crawford was a Canelo rematch, though he said he was never approached about the bout. The American has made it clear that fights with rising stars like Jaron Ennis would do nothing for his legacy, hence his retirement.
There was, however, one route ‘Bud’ was exploring before making the final decision. Speaking on The Breakfast Club, Crawford reflecting on almost booking a fight against Janibek Alimkhanuly before the Kazakh champion failed a doping test.
“Every fight that I fought since 2014 has been for something. Either I’m defending my title, or I’m going to conquer another division for a title … [I said] I’m gonna beat Canelo and I’m gonna see what they do down here [at 154]. Then it came out that Janibek was on performance enhancers. So, that fight got cancelled. I think they stripped him for a title. I’m into making history … but it didn’t [play out like that].”
Alimkhanuly tested positive for a banned substance in December last year before his middleweight unification fight against Erislandy Lara. He has since been stripped of the IBF belt, though he is controversially still the WBO champion despite a year’s ban from the sanctioning body.
With the plans not playing out in Crawford’s favour, middleweight will remain the one skipped division from 135 to 168lbs.
