Unless Terence Crawford changes his mind on retirement, Canelo Alvarez will forever be known as his final opponent in a boxing ring.
The two men met at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas back in September, where Canelo was defending his undisputed super-middleweight status in the bout.
Due to Crawford stepping up two weight divisions, Canelo was seen as the favourite ahead of the bout, but it certainly didn’t transpire that way, as ‘Bud’ put in arguably the best performance of his entire career to claim a unanimous decision victory.
That win saw Crawford earn undisputed honours in a third weight division, having already managed it at super-lightweight and welterweight, whilst he also had world title reigns at lightweight and super-welterweight.
Following that win, attention turned to what ‘Bud’ may look to do next, with suggestions of a drop down to middleweight in search of becoming a six-weight world champion, while a rematch with Canelo was also touted.
Instead it was a surprise third option that transpired, as Crawford announced an abrupt retirement from the sport back in December, hanging up the gloves with a perfect 42-0 record.
With Canelo set to be the final opponent that Crawford will ever face, the Mexican superstar revealed in their post-fight press conference back in September exactly what he made of his rival’s ability, declaring that his former rival ‘has everything’.
“Everything [gave me trouble]. He has everything.
We knew Crawford is a great fighter. I did what I was supposed to do, right? I tried for every way. I trained very hard. He deserves all the credit. I tried my best. I couldn’t figure out the style.”
Along with the win over Canelo, Crawford also defeated the likes of Errol Spence Jr and Shawn Porter, and will go down as one of the greatest boxers in recent memory.
