When it seemed that the boxing year would no longer have notes of great relevance in the last half of the year, we were surprised on Tuesday when the reigning world champion, the American, Terence Crawford, announced his retirement from the ring at 38 years of age. While the news leaves a degree of nostalgia among fans of the sport, it is undeniable that speculation regarding what he leaves vacant is already beginning to explode on social networks.
It should be remembered that in September 2025, specifically on Saturday the 13th of that month, in the usual Independence Day card in Mexico, the man nicknamed ‘Bud’ faced Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez at the Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada, home of the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL).
What titles does Terence Crawford vacate after beating Canelo Alvarez?
To the surprise of many, it was the man born on September 28, 1987 in Omaha, Nebraska, who won by unanimous decision after 12 rounds of intense combat, taking the belts that accredit him as the world champion in the super middleweight division of the World Boxing Council (WBC), World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Organization (WBO).
With his retirement, all those titles have been vacated, and it is almost the Law of the Jungle for anyone who wants to acquire them, obviously starting the list with Canelo himself, the Mexican pugilist who wanted a rematch with Crawford, which will not happen. Although it is believed that the fighter will rest in May, it is possible to see him in a fight in 2026 to try to climb back to the top.
Could Jaime Munguia fight for the titles vacated by Terence Crawford?
Two other clear contenders with the Mexican Jaime Munguia, a native of Tijuana, Baja California, could soon go for the vacant title and it is already speculated that his rival, at least as far as the WBC is concerned, would be the Cameroonian-French Canadian, Christian M’billi.
Other names to highlight and who occupy the top ranks in different lists in this category, in addition to those already mentioned, are Britain’s Hamzah Sheeraz, Guatemala’s Lester Martinez, Croatia’s Luka Plantic, Mexico’s Diego Pacheco, Cuba’s Osleys Iglesias, the United States’ Jermall Charlo, Uzbekistan’s Bektemir Melikuziev and France’s Kevin Lele Sadjo.
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