Terence Crawford retires from boxing with 42-0 record

Terence Crawford, who claimed the title of best pound-for-pound boxer with a convincing victory over Canelo Alvarez in September, announced his retirement on Tuesday.

The 38-year-old Crawford is the only male boxer to capture three unified division titles, which he accomplished with that unanimous decision over Alvarez before 70,482 fans at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

That gave Crawford the super middleweight championship and a 42-0 record with 31 knockouts. His final 20 bouts came with a belt on the line.

“Every fighter knows this moment would come,” Crawford said in a 5½-minute video detailing his decision. “You just never know when.”

Crawford said he was “walking away as a great with nothing else left to prove.”

“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,” Crawford said. “This isn’t goodbye, this is the end of one fight and the beginning of another.”

Crawford turned pro in 2008 after falling short in his bid to make the 2008 U.S. Olympic team and won titles in four weight classes – lightweight, super lightweight, welterweight and super welterweight – before moving up two more weight divisions for the bout against Alvarez.

He became the undisputed in the welterweight division when he defeated Errol Spence Jr. by knockout in July 2023, and was the undisputed champion of the junior welterweight division when he stopped Julius Indongo in August 2017.

Crawford took pride in representing Omaha, Nebraska, the city where he grew up and continued to live.

He probably could have continued to sign up for other fights, and the win over Alvarez showed Crawford still had plenty left in him.

But rather than accept another massive payday, Crawford decided to move on.

“This sport gave me everything,” Crawford said. “I fought for my family. I fought for the 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. I’ve made peace with what’s next. It’s time.”