Terence Crawford losing out on the Canelo Alvarez fight puts him in a position where he may retire if his entire focus for continuing on was to get that big payday. Canelo chose the bigger fight against Jake Paul in May, leaving Terence high and dry in his quest for the golden parachute.
(Credit: Esther Lin/Premier Boxing Champions)
Retirement Rumors
Promoter Eddie Hearn reportedly thinks Crawford may retire now that he failed to get the fight with Canelo. He says the Canelo-Paul fight may have “derailed” the Crawford match permanently.
It would be a weird move for Crawford if he does retire because there are a lot of interesting fights he can make at 154. They wouldn’t bring in the massive money that a fight against Canelo would, but they would still pay well.
Options for Crawford
– Bakhram Murtazaliev
– Jaron Ennis
– Sebastian Fundora
– Vergil Ortiz
– David Benavidez
– Serhii Bohachuk
– David Morrell
– Israil Madrimov
If Crawford, 37, wants to sit and wait for the outcome of Canelo’s mega-fight against Jake, hoping to get negotiations going with the Mexican star, he can do that. That would look so desperately weak on his part, and his popularity would continue to drop if he’s not going to stay busy.
Fighting one of those guys would pay well, and if Crawford were to win, it would create more interest in a fight between him and Canelo. The fight would no longer be viewed as a cash grab, which is what it would be now if they fought.
“The Jake Paul fight makes perfect sense for Canelo Alvarez, but it also changes the trajectory of the Crawford fight,” said Eddie Hearn to the Ring Magazine YouTube channel, discussing today’s news of Canelo choosing to fight Jake Paul next in May.
“Canelo-Crawford is one of the great boxing fights that can be made in the modern day. When you go and fight Jake Paul, it’s kind of like. Maybe someone has reacted to that news, or maybe it [Canelo vs. Crawford] just fell through.
“It sounds to me that the move to fight Jake Paul has maybe derailed the other fight. I don’t blame Canelo Alvarez because, financially, the bigger fight is Canelo-Jake Paul because in that fight, you’ve got two big stars.
Fighting Jake Paul is a better move for Canelo’s career because the money and publicity he’ll receive for that match will be massive. Moreover, Canelo will gain more fans due to Jake’s social media followers. He has over 20 million Instagram followers and 20+ million YouTube subscribers, many of whom will become fans of Canelo after this fight.
Crawford’s Inactivity
Crawford needs to defend his WBA junior middleweight title that he won off of Israil Madrimov last year in August. He still hasn’t made a defense of that belt, and he’s holding it hostage. All the contenders in the WBA’s top 15 are having their careers stalled by Crawford not defending.
As a champion, Crawford has been rotten with his once-a-year schedule. He’s the worst kind of champion because he only defends annually. If Crawford wants the payday from Canelo, he needs to move up to 168 or 175 and beat some top fighters, like David Benavidez, David Morrell, or Diego Pacheco.
“In the other fight [Canelo-Crawford], you got two great fighters and one big star. Terence Crawford should be a big star, but in reality, he isn’t. He’s just an unbelievable fighter. Listen, everything can change overnight. So, don’t rule out Canelo vs. Crawford, but as I’m hearing, Canelo-Jake Paul is done,” said Hearn.
Last Updated on 02/06/2025
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