Crawford explained that after beating Alvarez, he looked at the possibility of dropping back down in weight to pursue further titles. “Now we beat Canelo. Now what?” Crawford said. “At first I was like, well, go down to 160 and do it again. Six weight champion and four division undisputed.”
He pointed to the middleweight situation at the time as a key factor in his thinking. “But Janibek jumped,” Crawford said. “Whoever would have won that fight against Erislandy Lara, they would have had three of the titles.”
Crawford said the idea was short-lived but serious. “It was just a thought. You can do it again, drop to 160, dare to be great and fight for something meaningful,” he said.
He also addressed the challenge posed by Alimkhanuly despite a lack of mainstream attention. “Even though their names weren’t the biggest, Janibek is a dangerous challenge,” Crawford said. “That’s what we do it for.”
Crawford described how a potential undisputed fight at middleweight would have added to the appeal. “If he somehow beat Carlos Adames and went undisputed, then you’re undisputed versus undisputed,” he said. “People would have agreed to that type of fight.”
The situation changed after Alimkhanuly’s failed test, which disrupted the path to a unified title fight at 160. “It didn’t happen,” Crawford said. “So I was like this is God telling me you have nothing left to prove.”
Crawford later confirmed his retirement, ending any plans to pursue further titles at middleweight.
These comments feel like he’s putting the final seal on the “Bud” era, reminding everyone that even at 38, he was still looking for the most “dangerous challenge” rather than an easy paycheck.
