Terence Crawford announces retirement from pro boxing

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

This has to be one of the most unexpected announcements in the sport of the sweet science.

In a video posted on his official social media accounts, undefeated boxing superstar Terence “Bud” Crawford confirmed that he will be hanging up his gloves and calling it a career on Dec. 17, 2025.

Fresh off a clinical domination of Canelo Alvarez, no fight fan saw this coming — including the majority of boxing analysts, who thought he could still do more and even surpass his performance last Sept. 14, 2025.

“Every fighter know this moment will come,” Crawford said in his video.

“We just never know when. I spent my whole life chasing something. Not belts, not money, not headlines, but that feeling — the one you get when the world doubts you, but you keep showing up.”

If Crawford decides to leave the sport for good and not pull off a comeback of some sort like Manny Pacquiao did, he will be capping off his majestic pro boxing career with a win-loss record of 42-0.

The Omaha, Nebraska, native joins Floyd Mayweather Jr., Rocky Marciano, Joe Calzaghe, Andre Ward, Ricardo Lopez, Edwin Valero, Sven Ottke and Terry Marsh as some of the prominent fighters to retire without dropping a single pro fight.

Throughout his 17-year career, Crawford embraced the highs and the lows to become a five-division world champion, including three undisputed distinctions in three different weight classes.

Although Crawford was already known to be a dangerous fighter, his career further transcended when he schooled Errol Spence Jr. on July 30, 2023, becoming the undisputed champion of the welterweight division.

What was predicted to be a 50/50 close match turned into a one-sided beating, as Crawford pulled off a ninth-round technical knockout victory to hand Spence the first loss of his career.

Then came the icing on the cake — the super middleweight showdown against Alvarez.

Crawford not only left Las Vegas speechless, but he also left a mark on the sport of boxing.

The sweet upset win propelled Crawford to a new level of greatness, making him the first boxer in the four-belt era to become an undisputed champion in three different weight classes — despite going up two divisions to challenge the mighty Mexican.

When every analyst predicted that Crawford would move up to another weight class and chase legacy, little did everyone know that it was his last dance inside the canvas.

“Walking away as a great with nothing else to prove,” Crawford wrote.

“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. This isn’t goodbye, it’s just the end of one fight and the beginning of the other.”