Terence Crawford hung up the gloves late last year as a five-weight world champion and future Hall of Famer.
Crawford’s retirement announcement came following his victory over Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez at super-middleweight – a fight many deemed a step too far for the American. He proved the doubters wrong one last time.
In his 42 professional bouts, ‘Bud’ rarely looked troubled. In fact, the question was rarely if he would win, but how he would do it. In 257 rounds, the switch-hitter from Omaha claims to have been truly hurt just once.
The information comes via two-weight world champion Regis Prograis, who recently sought advice from Crawford about moving up in weight as he prepares to face Conor Benn at a catchweight of 150lbs.
Speaking to Daily Mail Boxing, Prograis relayed Crawford’s words about being in trouble against former Olympian Yuriorkis Gamboa, believing he was susceptible to the Cuban’s shots due to cutting weight.
“Terence Crawford went up two divisions and he still took shots from Canelo. He said ‘the only time I’ve been hurt was by [Yuriorkis] Gamboa and that was when I was at 135, I was too small. I’ve been in the gym, sparring these big guys and the punches don’t do nothing.’ So, really the extra weight is a benefit.”
Crawford clashed with Gamboa in 2014 as the first defence of his WBO lightweight world title – a tricky test for any new champion given the Cuban’s skillset and impressive amateur pedigree.
Though the champion scored four knockdowns in total on his way to a ninth round stoppage, in that final round he was caught and wobbled himself. Gamboa then went for the kill but was ultimately punished for it when Crawford survived the storm.
Crawford, who stayed on his feet despite the big right hand, would not hit the canvas in his entire campaign, although many feel a knee touching down against Egidijus ‘Mean Machine’ Kavaliauskas was incorrectly ruled a slip.
As for Gamboa, his pro career never quite lived up its considerable hype. Alongside issues outside of the ropes, the Cuban lost his last three to Devin Haney, Gervonta Davis and Isaac Cruz. In 2026, he plans a combat comeback, recently announcing his sighing with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship.
