Terence Crawford speaks to media on September 13, 2025. IMAGO / Hoganphotos

Teddy Atlas Admits 'Worry' About Terence Crawford's Potential Next Fight

Originally posted on KO on SI | By Grant Young | Last updated Sep 21, 2025 7:00 PM ET

Now that Terence Crawford has cemented his status as arguably the greatest boxer of the modern generation (and has a case for being considered one of the greatest boxers of all time) after beating Canelo Alvarez on September 13, there's a lot of interest about where Crawford's career will go from here.

Some believe that Crawford is likely to retire. After all, he just became the first male boxer to be an undisputed champion in three different weight classes, has fought essentially every other great boxer in those weight classes, has an undefeated record, and might have made nine figures by fighting Canelo. In other words, he has nothing to prove and perhaps nothing left to fight for.

That being said, given that Crawford is now undoubtedly one of the sport's biggest stars, he would be leaving a lot of money on the table by retiring right now. Not only is a lucrative rematch against Canelo on the table, but Crawford has his pick of the litter in fighting anybody from 154 pounds all the way up to 174 pounds if he so desired.

Teddy Atlas Shares Message About Terence Crawford's Next Fight

Teddy Atlas is one of the most respected figures in the boxing community. And during a recent episode of his THE FIGHT with Teddy Atlas podcast, he spoke about what Crawford might do next in his career.

"The world is his, in whatever he chooses," Atlas said of Crawford's next fight. "He's earned it. He is the man right now. He is the top gun... Crawford probably put just himself on the [pound-for-pound] top of the hill, top of the mountain... Now he gets to choose. He wants to go down [in weight], he doesn't want to stay up there, he wants to go down to 160?

"I always worry that when you put that much muscle on Bud, to come back down. Because it's hard to lose muscle," Atlas added of Crawford.

"But he's smart. His people are so smart... At the end of the day, he's smart. He's not going too far. He's going down eight pounds. He could do that and still not hurt himself physically. So it's purely up to him."

It sounds like Atlas would prefer that Crawford doesn't go back down to the lower weight divisions after finding success at 168 pounds. And given that he doesn't have to cut as much weight to make super middleweight, Crawford would probably prefer the same.

This article first appeared on KO on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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