Undisputed champ Terence Crawford retires from boxing at 38

Terence Crawford is hanging up his boxing gloves months after becoming the undisputed champion in three weight classes by defeating Canelo Alvarez. 

Crawford, 38, announced he was retiring from the sport on Tuesday in a video posted across his social media and on YouTube, stepping away from the ring with a 42-0 record — with 31 wins coming via knockout. 

“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,” he said in a YouTube video announcing the decision. “This isn’t goodbye, this is the end of one fight and the beginning of another.”

Crawford is the only boxer in the four-belt era to have been an undisputed champ in three weight classes, owning the titles in the super middleweight division, welterweight division and the junior welterweight division. 

The 38-year-old boxer held 18 major world championships over five weight classes and is the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter. 

It was his knockout of Alvarez that made him the undisputed super middleweight champion in September, as 41 million viewers tuned in to watch the fight on Netflix. 

Crawford also had victories over Errol Spence Jr., Shawn Porter, Kell Brook and Amir Khan over the course of his career. 

Terence Crawford, right, connects with Canelo Alvarez during a super middleweight championship boxing match in Las Vegas on Sept. 13, 2025. AP

“I spent my whole life chasing something,” Crawford said in his announcement video. “Not belts, not money, not headlines. But that feeling, the one you get when the world doubts you, but you keep showing up and you keep proving everyone wrong. This sport gave me everything. I fought for my family, I fought for my 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.”

Crawford retires as arguably one of the best boxers of his generation. 

Only Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Pacquiao have won titles in more weight classes than Crawford.