One of the closest people to Terence Crawford has urged him to retire from the sport of boxing following the biggest win of his career.
This past Saturday, Terence Crawford picked up the biggest win of his career thus far when he dethroned Canelo Alvarez to become the undisputed super middleweight champion.
Despite going into the fight as a sizable underdog, ‘Bud’ Crawford used his special fight IQ and out-pointed the Mexican over 12 rounds, bringing his seven year streak as a champion to an end.
Straight after his win, Crawford was asked about potentially retiring, to which he stated he would sit down with his team and talk about the scenario.
Crawford urged to retire by Shakur Stevenson following win over Canelo
Just a few days removed from the mega event at the Allegiant Stadium, the viewership figures were announced and the fight between Canelo and Crawford officially entered the history books.
The undisputed super middleweight title fight is now the most viewed men’s title fight of the century, netting over 41 million viewers, ranking it above even Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao.
And with Crawford now at the peak of his popularity, and even being backed as greater than Mayweather, the consensus saviour of boxing Turki Alalshikh has already potentially lined up his next fight.
The TKO boxing co-owner has questioned whether light heavyweight champion David Benavidez could move back down to super middleweight to take on the American.
Despite that, Crawford has surprisingly been urged to retire by his longtime friend and fellow champion, Shakur Stevenson.
“For him to be this far along and all these years, I think he’s number one,” Stevenson told the Ariel Helwani Show.
“I don’t wanna see him fight anymore. I don’t. It’s just a lot, it’s a lot. From training camps, the wear and tear on your body, and me being his brother, I really have endless love for this guy, I don’t wanna see (him fight again), I think he’s done everything in the sport that he can do.
“There’s nothing else that can be done, he made one of the best fighters of our generation look average and I think that’s a huge accomplishment and I think it’s time for him to retire on his high horse.”
Crawford topples Oleksandr Usyk and takes over as pound-for-pound number one
For several years now, Oleksandr Usyk has been widely considered as the pound-for-pound number one fighter on the planet, especially after recent wins over Tyson Fury and Daniel Dubois.
And he has been recognized as that in the Ring Magazine’s official rankings. However, following his win over the Mexican, Crawford has officially knocked Usyk off top spot and is now officially ranked the pound-for-pound number one boxer on the planet.
Despite that, for now it still remains unknown whether the 37-year-old will step into the ring again, or if he will retire as the undisputed super middleweight champion.