Terence Crawford Reveals Who He Has ‘Eyes On’ For Next Fight

Undisputed super middleweight champion Terence Crawford is still relishing in his upset victory over Canelo Alvarez in September, and rightfully so.

Not only did Crawford cement his place as one of the greatest boxers of all time by beating Canelo, but he made a staggering sum that will ensure he’s set for life after retiring.

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Therefore, it’s no surprise to see Crawford touring around the world and showing up at seemingly random events in the wake of that win. The most recent of these events was the WBO Convention 2025 in Bogotá, Colombia. Crawford has been documenting his time there, and at one point, he posted a video that sparked speculation about whether he already has his next fight lined up.

Crawford was taking a video of a screen at the convention that showed him posing. Right after that, a photo of WBO and IBF middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly came up. Crawford quickly turned the camera away, as if he was trying to hide what had just been shown.

This made some wonder whether this potential fight had been leaked, and that Crawford would be dropping down to middleweight to pursue another undisputed belt before retiring.

Crawford Reveals He Has ‘Eyes On’ Janibek Alimkhanuly For Potential Next Fight

The boxing world now knows that Crawford definitely won’t be next for Alimkhanuly, as news recently broke that he’s facing WBA middleweight champion Erislandy Lara on December 6.

However, that doesn’t mean Alimkhanuly can’t be next for Crawford, especially if Crawford wants to take several more months off before returning at some point in the second quarter of 2026. And Crawford seemed to make this suggestion through a video that Alimkhanuly posted on his X account on October 30.

The video shows someone next to Crawford (who is looking at the camera with his fist raised) saying, “Hey [Janibek]. We’re here next. Looking for you! Looking for December 6, how you’re gonna do it.”

“I’ve got my eyes on you, Janibek. Good luck!” Crawford then said.

Fighting the winner of Alimkhanuly vs. Lara makes all the sense in the world for Crawford if he wants to pursue a fourth undisputed belt. The winner of that fight will have the WBA, WBO, and IBF belts, with only Carlos Adames’ WBC belt unaccounted for.

Therefore, Crawford would take three of the middleweight division’s four belts if he beat the winner of Alimkhanuly vs. Lara and then could fight Adames by the end of 2026, potentially creating a clear path for him to win undisputed status in middleweight by this time next year.

Did Terence Crawford Just Leak Next Fight Against Undefeated Champion?

The boxing world is in a collective waiting pattern to find out which direction Terence Crawford decides to go next in his boxing career.

Crawford is still riding a high after defeating Canelo Alvarez via unanimous decision on September 13, which made Crawford the undisputed super middleweight champion and the first male in boxing history to reach undisputed status in three different weight classes.

What’s more, Crawford earned the biggest payday of his life in that fight, and his victory has set him up to make even more money if he returns to the ring.

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That seems to be a big “if” right now, though, given that Crawford just turned 38 years old and has already accomplished everything there is to accomplish in the sport. He doesn’t need the money, and there’s a case to be made that Crawford would only be putting his immaculate legacy at risk if he were to keep fighting and suffer a loss. Therefore, there’s a world where Crawford hangs up the gloves for good and never fights again.

If Crawford does return to fight, only a few bouts would seem to make sense. One would be a rematch with Canelo, given that’s undoubtedly the most lucrative bout available to him. He could also try to become an undisputed champion in the middleweight (160-pound division), which he skipped over to fight Canelo.

Crawford has been an undisputed champion at the 147, 154, and 168-pound weight classes. And there’s a pretty clear pathway for him to at least challenge for undisputed status at 160 pounds in his next two fights.

Did Terence Crawford Leak a Fight Against Janibek Alimkhanuly?

Crawford is currently at the WBO Convention 2025 in Bogotá, Colombia. He has been documenting the experience on his Instagram story. And on October 28, he was taking a video that might have teased a matchup between him and the current WBO and IBF middleweight champion, Janibek Alimkhanuly.

Crawford was taking a video of a screen that showed a photo of him posing. Right after that, a photo of Alimkhanuly came up, in the same way that a graphic for a fight might be revealed. Perhaps even more telling was that Crawford quickly turned the camera away, as if he was trying to hide what had just been shown.

This video has since circulated on social media and is going viral.

It also prompted a response from Alimkhanuly (who is a perfect 17-0 with 12 KOs as a professional), who replied to the X post of the video from @AccordToBoxing and wrote, “No problem ✅”.

The other two champions at middleweight are Erislandy Lara (WBA) and Carlos Adames (WBC). If these two fought and then Crawford fought Alimkhanuly, the winners of both bouts could then match up for the undisputed middleweight title.

This would make a ton of sense on paper and give Crawford a path to earning undisputed status in a fourth weight class.

To be clear, there’s a chance that there was nothing to Crawford and Alimkhanuly being next to each other on that graphic. It could have been (and perhaps likely was) just showing the current WBO champions in descending order due to weight class, which is why Crawford still hasn’t deleted the video from his story.

But this video is still enough to spark speculation on Crawford’s future.

Over a month later, Terence Crawford’s performance in the most important bout of his life remains outstanding.

Taking on Canelo Alvarez in front of a biased crowd in Las Vegas, “Bud” came out to go toe-to-toe with Alvarez and did more than that.

Crawford handily beat Alvarez, delivering another masterclass in technically proficient boxing against an opponent that many other fighters have been too scared to attack. In the process, he became undisputed in a third weight class. But Crawford may have taken something more important from Alvarez than his super middleweight belts.

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Is Terence Crawford the new “Face of Boxing”?

For years, Alvarez has been dubbed the “Face of Boxing”. Even the Mexican himself has accepted the moniker. But after losing to Crawford, Jaron “Boots” Ennis believes there’s a new “face” in town now.

“He just beat Canelo, the face of boxing. So that makes Crawford the face of boxing at the moment.”

That’s certainly logical, but Alvarez earning that moniker goes deeper than just winning fights. Canelo is a superstar in every sense of the word, and his out-of-ring persona has become larger than life.

Crawford is the better boxer at this moment in time, and arguably over the course of their respective careers, but he simply can’t sell and bring in revenue like Alvarez can. He absolutely has the bragging rights, though, and can steal Canelo’s nickname for now.

World Champion Who Is ‘The Biggest Threat To Terence Crawford’ Calls For The Fight To Happen

An unbeaten world champion has once again expressed an interest in facing pound-for-pound superstar Terence Crawford next.

‘Bud’ Crawford extended his professional record to 42-0 last month when he dethroned Mexican icon Canelo Alvarez of his undisputed super-middleweight championship at a packed out Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

The 38-year-old Omaha-native put on an impressive display against Canelo to defy the odds and become the first male fighter in boxing history to win an undisputed championship in three weight classes, having accomplished this feat at super-lightweight and welterweight respectively.

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As he approaches what could be the final chapter of his glittering professional career, ‘Bud’ is said to be considering a move down to middleweight for his next bout, as he sets his sights on becoming a six-weight world champion.

One potential opponent for Crawford could be the hard-hitting unified WBO and IBF world middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly, who has proved to be one of the most avoided fighters on the planet in recent years.

In a social media post, Kazakh star Alimkhanuly reiterated his desire for a showdown with Crawford, sharing a clip from the Inside the Ring show in which trainer Malik Scott named him as the ‘biggest threat’ to the American.

Janibek made the first defence of his unified WBO and IBF middleweight titles back in April when he stopped Anauel Ngamissengue in the fifth round of their clash at the Barys Arena in Astana, Kazakhstan.

The 32-year-old is reportedly on the verge of agreeing to a three-belt unification bout against reigning WBA middleweight champion Erislandy Lara next, with an official announcement expected to be made in the coming weeks.

Five-weight world champion Terence Crawford has established himself as one of, if not the greatest fighter of his entire generation over the last few years.

The 38-year-old from Omaha, Nebraska has had an exceptional professional career to date, remaining unbeaten in 42 bouts since he made his debut way back in 2008.

Crawford etched his name into the boxing history books once again last month when he defeated Mexico’s Canelo Alvarez to capture the undisputed super-middleweight championship at a sold-out Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

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‘Bud’ has also achieved undisputed status in a further two weight classes throughout the course of his career, accomplishing this feat at light-welterweight and welterweight respectively, becoming the first male fighter to do this in three separate divisions.

There are still a number of opponents out there that fans want to see Crawford take on, but he has claimed that two fighters in particular have refused the chance to face him.

Speaking in an interview, Crawford revealed that American stars Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis and Vergil Ortiz were reportedly offered the chance to face him recently, but both passed up on this huge opportunity.

“Boots had a chance to fight me, Vergil Ortiz had an opportunity to fight me, but now everybody like ‘Oh I’ll fight Terence or I’m this, I’m that’ … I’m like okay cool, when y’all had your opportunity y’all went elsewhere, but now that y’all see I’m the ticket now y’all like ‘Oh yeah we wanna fight Terence Crawford, we want Terence Crawford’ … that’s the narrative now.”

Both Ennis and Ortiz are undefeated in their respective careers, and while a clash against Crawford may not come to fruition in the near future, the pair have actually been linked to a bout with one another next.

‘Bud’ is expected to take some time away from the sport before he makes an important decision on his future, one that could result in the five-weight world champion announcing his retirement, although this remains unlikely.

Terence Crawford could miss out on historic ‘Fighter of the Year’ award following one upcoming matchup

Terence Crawford undoubtedly earned the biggest win of 2025 last month.

At Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Crawford defeated Canelo Alvarez to become the undisputed super super middleweight champion.

Many even believed that the unanimous scorecards didn’t truly reflect just how dominant ‘Bud’ was on September 13.

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While there have been some hot takes about what Crawford achieved, there’s no denying that the manner of his performance after moving up two weight classes was incredibly impressive.

It may seem like he has the ‘Fighter of the Year’ award already in the bag, but one upcoming fight could challenge that position.

Naoya Inoue’s fourth fight of 2025 could provide competition for the ‘Fighter of the Year’ award

When it comes time for The Ring magazine to crown their ‘Fighter of the Year’ for 2025, Terence Crawford is likely going to be the first name that’s put forward.

His win was so impressive that some have even urged Crawford to retire while he’s on top of the sport after everything that he has already accomplished.

That being said, there are some that criticized Canelo Alvarez’s display on September 13, questioning whether the Mexican star overlooked his opponent.

Crawford’s win was the biggest moment in boxing this year, but it’s also the only time that he has competed in 2025.

Naoya Inoue, on the other hand, who is ranked as The Ring’s #3 pound-for-pound fighter in the world, two spots behind ‘Bud’, has been much more active.

‘The Monster’ has already produced three wins this year to defend his undisputed super bantamweight titles, including a bout with Ramon Cardenas where he recovered after being dropped in the second round.

Inoue is currently scheduled to return against Alan Picasso on December 27 in Riyadh, where a fourth consecutive win in one calendar year could provide some serious opposition to Crawford.

To use the UFC as a comparison, Ilia Topuria likely holds the single most impressive win of 2025.

However, Merab Dvalishvili set to make UFC history by defending his bantamweight title four times in December, it’s hard to argue that he hasn’t had the best year.

Terence Crawford would be just the third American fighter to win the award in 15 years

Terence Crawford would join an exclusive list of American fighters who have been named The Ring’s ‘Fighter of the Year’ in recent times.

The magnitude of Crawford’s win in September still puts him in a strong position as the fighter that most people will consider to be the favorite for the award.

However, if Naoya Inoue can end the year with a big performance against Alan Picasso, there is room for a debate.