Crawford, who officially announced his exit from the professional boxing ring last December at the age of 39, stepped away from the sport just months after etching his name into the history books with a career-defining victory. In that monumental bout, Crawford made the daring jump up two weight classes to challenge and unanimously defeat Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez, a feat that stunned the boxing world and solidified his status as one of the greatest pound-for-pound fighters of his generation.
That victory over Alvarez carried immense historical significance. By securing the win, Crawford became the first male three-division undisputed champion in the modern four-belt era, a milestone that places him in an extraordinarily elite echelon of boxing royalty. This historic achievement came roughly seven months after undisputed queen Claressa Shields became the first woman to achieve a similar multi-division undisputed feat in the sport, paving the way for Crawford to follow suit on the men’s side.
Having firmly cemented his legacy and achieved nearly everything possible in the sport, Crawford opted to walk away into retirement. His decision came even as boxing enthusiasts and promoters clamored for an immediate rematch with Canelo Alvarez, who has remained eager to exact his revenge inside the squared circle at the 168-pound super-middleweight limit. Rather than treading over familiar ground and engaging in a high-stakes, grueling rematch that could potentially tarnish the pristine narrative of his retirement, Hearn suggests that Crawford’s competitive fire might only be reignited by an entirely new and unprecedented challenge.
According to the Matchroom Boxing promoter, rather than seeking a second encounter with Canelo, Crawford would likely be far more enticed by an undisputed showdown against rising American star Jaron “Boots” Ennis.
For such a blockbuster, legacy-defining fight to materialize, however, several significant obstacles must first be cleared within the division. Most notably, Jaron Ennis must first successfully navigate a stern challenge against IBF champion Josh Kelly in their scheduled encounter on February 27. A victory over Kelly would not only solidify Ennis’s standing but also set the stage for a subsequent high-stakes collision with his WBC counterpart, Sebastian Fundora.
Should Ennis successfully navigate past Kelly and then defeat Fundora, he would capture all four major governing body belts at 154 pounds, crowning himself the undisputed king of the junior-middleweight division. It is at that precise juncture, Hearn revealed during an interview with IFL TV, that a matchup with Crawford would transform from a speculative dream into a vastly more realistic and commercially massive proposition.
Expounding on this potential timeline during his interview, Hearn outlined his vision for how the division could unfold. If Boots wins against Kelly, he will move on to fight Fundora, Hearn explained, adding his prediction that Ennis would ultimately defeat Fundora to claim undisputed status. Following that milestone, Hearn expressed his belief that Crawford would seriously entertain a return to the ring, noting that while Boots may not currently occupy the absolute top spot on Crawford’s priority list, the sheer magnitude of fighting an undisputed champion would completely change the equation. If Boots were to become undisputed, Hearn posed the rhetorical question of just how colossal a fight against Crawford would truly be.
Despite the tantalizing prospect of a four-division undisputed showdown, industry observers note that Terence Crawford remains comfortably retired and is unlikely to lace up his gloves again unless the stars align perfectly. As history has shown throughout his illustrious career, Crawford is a fighter who values legacy, historic milestones, and appropriate financial compensation above all else. Without a genuinely historic incentive—such as the opportunity to capture an undisputed crown in a fourth different weight class against a formidable undefeated talent like a newly crowned undisputed Jaron Ennis—any speculation regarding a comeback remains strictly hypothetical. Yet, in the unpredictable world of professional boxing, the lure of making history a fourth time just might be enough to tempt Crawford back into the ring for one final, unforgettable chapter.
