Terence Crawford cemented himself as the best boxer of this generation after his September 13 unanimous decision win against Canelo Alvarez, which gave Crawford the undisputed super middleweight belts and made him the only male boxer to ever become undisputed in three weight classes.
With this historic victory on his resumé, many believe that Crawford is going to retire from the sport, if only because there is nothing else for him to accomplish in the sweet science. Then again, Crawford is now one of the biggest names in boxing (if he somehow wasn’t that before fighting Canelo) and would be leaving a boatload of money on the table if he decided to retire now.
There are also plenty of potential weight classes and opponents Crawford could choose from if he does decide to return. However, Turki Alalshikh already seems to have a next opponent in mind for him, which was conveyed with an X post on September 14 that read, “Can David Benavidez still make 168 pounds?”
Can David Benavidez still make 168 pounds? 🤔
— TURKI ALALSHIKH (@Turki_alalshikh) September 14, 2025
David Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs) is the WBA and WBC light heavyweight (175 pounds) champion but fought in the 168-pound super middleweight division for most of his career.
Canelo Alvarez got a lot of criticism for supposedly ducking Benavidez for the past several years, as he seemed like a clear contender that never got an opportunity to challenge Canelo for his super middleweight belts, like Crawford just did.
USA: DAVID BENAVIDEZ 27-0 (23 KOs) 167lbs on the dot ready to defend his belt on November 23, 2025. / IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire
While Crawford vs. Benavidez would undoubtedly draw a lot of eyeballs (if only because Canelo refused to fight him all those years), it doesn’t seem like this is the likely next fight for Crawford, if only because of what his coach Brian “BoMac” McIntyre said about this potential bout during a September 14 interview with FightHub TV.
After being informed of Turki’s X post about Benavidez making 168 pounds, BoMac said, “No. We ain’t doing that fight. No.”
When asked whether Crawford is planning on vacating the belts, BoMac replied, “No, we ain’t gonna vacate the belts. We just gonna sit whoever we need to sit for a minute, and then, just like I said, get back in the gym and do our thing.”
Perhaps the reason for BoMac shutting this down is that Crawford literally just fought two days ago and deserves a break before trying to figure out who he should fight next. However, that isn’t going to make Benavidez’s fan base feel any better.
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