Last week in a social media post, former undefeated boxer, future Hall of Famer, and former four-division boxing world champion Terence “Bud” Crawford (42-0, 31 KOs) was seen training with one of his boxing coaches. The reasonable inference that can be drawn from the video is that Crawford is about to make an announcement of his return to boxing.
Fight fans last saw Crawford fight 11 months ago when he defeated superstar boxer Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (63-3-2, 39 KOs) back in September 2025 via unanimous decision in spectacular fashion in Las Vegas. There was some talk of a rematch with Canelo which did not materialize, and Crawford subsequently announced his retirement from the sport of boxing. Crawford has gone on various boxing platforms since his retirement announcement and has been adamant he will not return to boxing.
According to this writer (me), that was then, this is now. Six months ago, Bud said on various platforms that not even $100 million would entice him to come out of retirement. Perhaps that is true. That position sounded believable to some, but not all. Why? It’s likely because Crawford has already been a millionaire since at least the year 2021. He reportedly earned $10 million for fighting David Avanesyan in 2022. He also reportedly earned a total of $20 million for fighting Errol Spence in 2023. Then in 2024, he reportedly earned a base pay of $2.5 million, which likely increased by millions more after adding his percentages of pay-per-view fight sales and everything else associated with his fight against Israel Madrimov. Regarding Crawford’s biggest fight ever against Canelo, Crawford earned a reported $50 million in 2026!
However, a few things have changed in the last six months since Crawford said he would not fight again and would stay retired. First, let me report the responsible thing and indicate that, as of the writing of this article, there has been NO official announcement from Crawford’s camp or any promoter that he is ending his retirement and returning to boxing. Also, Crawford is always visiting with other boxers in gyms and training with them, so it’s not an unusual occurrence to see Crawford at a boxing gym somewhere in the United States or anywhere else in the world training.
However, something seems or feels different this time. First, there seemed to be high intensity in how Crawford was working out. Another inference that can be drawn from this recent video is that the fire (zeal) that may have left Crawford after the Canelo fight has returned. It appears Bud may have the proverbial boxing “itch” to return to the sport of boxing. So, true to Crawford’s words, it may not be about the money, but rather Crawford’s competitive nature may be what is once again fueling him. Those who are close to Crawford mention that he loves to compete—not just in boxing, but in everything. He likes to win at whatever he does.
Crawford is 38 years old, and his 39th birthday is fast approaching next month in September 2026. Based on what this writer (me) saw on social media and having watched training videos of Crawford training in the past for “Big Fights,” Crawford has not lost a step.
At the top of the 154-lb division, two fighters have emerged that have created a “buzz” in boxing. Those two fighters are Sebastian “Towering Inferno” Fundora (24-1-1, 15 KOs), who holds the WBC 154-lb belt, and Jaron “Boots” Ennis (36-0, 32 KOs), who recently defeated former champion Xander Zayas and now holds the WBA and WBO titles. Josh Kelly (18-1-1, 9 KOs) is the IBF champion, but he is not well known in the United States. Contender Vergil Ortiz is now available to fight after settling his lawsuit against his promoter, Oscar De La Hoya.
The fighter Crawford has focused on is Ennis. There seems to be a lot of talk from Crawford regarding Boots. Crawford has reportedly said Ennis's momentum in boxing is built off his name, that Ennis is levels behind him, and that he would give Ennis problems in a fight. Ennis has reportedly brushed Crawford's comments aside by responding that he is not worried about a retired fighter like Crawford.
One of Crawford’s team members, “Bernie the Boxer,” said in a recent interview that Crawford would come back for $100 million or if WBA/WBO junior middleweight (154 lbs) champion Ennis got under his skin (trash talking) by saying he would knock Crawford out. With the back-and-forth bantering between the two fighters, it appears that they both want the fight. In addition, there is grassroots momentum from boxing fans for Ennis to fight Crawford. Certain sources reportedly say Turki Al-Sheikh, one of the founders of the newly formed Zuffa Boxing, wants to see Crawford and Ennis fight. Bernie also went so far as to say a Crawford vs. Ennis fight would have to be at 160 lbs (middleweight). Crawford last fought at 168 lbs (super middleweight) when he defeated Canelo 11 months ago for the undisputed super middleweight title.
There is no known officially announced opponent for Jaron “Boots” Ennis as of the writing of this article. Even though Crawford has not fought in 11 months, he appears to be close to his fighting weight. Even if Ennis and Crawford fought this November or December, Crawford would only have been out of the ring for 14 to 15 months. There are no known reports to this writer of Crawford abusing his body outside of boxing. While Ennis is an excellent fighter and he and fellow champion Sebastian Fundora rank numbers 1 and 2 respectively in their division, whichever is the best fighter, this writer believes Crawford will defeat Boots if they fight within the next six months. A reported source has indicated there are ongoing discussions (all preliminary) between the Crawford and Ennis camps now. Let’s see what happens and hope we can get an actual fight between the two.
Boxing Notes
Former WBO lightweight (135 lbs) champion Keyshawn Davis is the mandatory contender for WBO welterweight (147 lbs) champion Devin Haney. Haney was to receive a guaranteed $6 million to Keyshawn’s $3 million to fight. Keyshawn rejected the $3 million. Reports are he wanted a minimum of $5 million for the Haney fight. He opted for purse bids, which is where other boxing promoters could come in and bid in hopes a high bid would give him the desired $5 million. That didn’t happen, because after the purse bid, Keyshawn was guaranteed a little over $2 million, which was less than the guaranteed $3 million initially offered. Currently, Keyshawn is being offered fights with contender Frank Martin and former IBF junior welterweight (140 lbs) champion Richardson Hitchins, which will likely come nowhere near $2–3 million. Keyshawn’s highest fight purse was reported to be $1.5 million. Keyshawn’s professional record stands at 15-0, 1 NC, 10 KOs. To his credit, he has won one professional world title, but he lost the title on the weight scales for not making the weight of 135 lbs. He has beaten good fighters, but at this point, it’s arguable he has not done enough in boxing to command a reported $5 million fight purse per fight. Regarding the $3 million he rejected, “Hindsight is 20/20,” as the expression goes. Perhaps Keyshawn should have taken the guaranteed $3 million before asking for a purse bid. Had he fought and defeated Haney, he would have been in a better position to command a minimum of $5 million per fight…
Over a week ago, the boxing world saw William Zepeda defeat former WBA junior lightweight champion Lamont Roach for the vacant WBC lightweight (135 lbs) title in a very good fight. The WBC used what was called “Open Scoring.” This system allows viewers to know how the official judges are scoring the fight and lets the onlookers know who is winning. Every three rounds, onlookers were told the judges' scores. Arguments made by officials for why Open Scoring was used were to promote the integrity of the sport and to keep in step with other sports like football, baseball, basketball, etc., where everyone knows who is winning. Respectfully, boxing cannot be compared to other sports for multiple reasons that a future article from this writer will discuss. Here are a few thoughts on the matter for now. Without Open Scoring, a fighter may believe he is winning but doesn’t want to take any chances of leaving the decision in the hands or opinion of the judges, so the fighter doesn’t stop giving it his best effort until the last round. With Open Scoring, that same fighter knows he or she is winning, so he or she may likely give a careful performance, which is a disservice to fight fans. On the other hand, without Open Scoring, the other fighter may believe the rounds are close or he is winning some of the rounds and continues to give a spirited effort. If Open Scoring is used, that same fighter may believe the rounds are close, even, or that he should have the lead. However, because the judges are scoring against him or her, the fighter may believe it is mathematically impossible to win a decision and impossible to score a knockout. Therefore, at what point does the fighter say, "I quit," and not answer the bell for the next round? That, too, is a disservice to boxing fans. So, while the apparent intent behind Open Scoring is good, it does not appear to help the sport of boxing.
***Ralph Rimpell is a writer based out of New York and is a Boxing Correspondent for Philboxing.com. Ralph holds an undergraduate degree from City University of New York. He has been a Boxing Writer for over ten years having written for several top boxing websites on the World Wide Web. Before becoming a writer, Ralph's passion was for professional wrestling until he realized professional wrestling was entertainment and not a real sport. It was at that time the 1984 US Olympic team made up of future stars such as Evander Holyfield, Meldrick Taylor, Pernell Whitaker, etc. entered the professional ranks and signed with promotional outfit Main Events.It was also at that time a young exciting Heavyweight originally hailing from Brooklyn named Mike Tyson also turned professional and became the face of boxing. Young boxing fan Ralph just couldn't get enough of boxing as a large part of it was being broadcast on "free TV". As time went on, Ralph felt boxing writers were not being forthcoming with their boxing coverage, opinion pieces, interviews, etc. So Ralph decided to write an article and submitted it to a Boxing website thinking it would be deleted and ignored by the Editor. To Ralph's surprise his article was posted on their website and the readers embraced it. The rest is history.
"I thank God for the Internet because it has created opportunities for writers like myself who likely would not have been given an opportunity to write for print publications. I hope someday soon to expand my role in Boxing on different levels." -- Ralph Rimpell
Contact Writer: RLuvsboxing@aol.com.
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