With September 13 fast approaching, Terence “Bud” Crawford finds himself weighing more than the jump from welterweight to super-middleweight. As the unbeaten 37-year-old prepares to meet Saul “Canelo” Alvarez at Las Vegas’s Allegiant Stadium in a Netflix-streamed blockbuster, he is also confronting the question every great eventually faces: when to walk away.
In a candid sit-down with Piers Morgan, Crawford admitted the sport’s harsh realities are never far from his mind. “Of course it plays on me,” he said when asked about boxing’s toll on legends like Muhammad Ali. “I was going to retire from boxing. I wasn’t going to let boxing retire me.” Acknowledging that fighters ply their trade “in the hurt business,” Crawford insisted he will choose the exit before the exit chooses him.
That stance also touches comments he made earlier this year, when he vowed to leave on his own terms after ensuring his family’s security. Yet Crawford refuses to peer beyond the Canelo date. “I don’t eat before my food’s on the table,” he told fans in Sydney. “Right now, I’m at 168 to fight Canelo, and that’s the only thing I’m thinking about.”
Many fans are split on what a September victory or defeat might mean. Trainer Jeff Mayweather believes toppling the Mexican icon would be the perfect send-off: “If he beats Canelo, that’ll be enough for him.” Conversely, a first blemish on a spotless record could tempt Crawford to linger for redemption.
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