Hearn hints at Canelo retiring after Crawford fight

Promoter Eddie Hearn has posited that Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez may retire following his forthcoming fight against Terence Crawford.

The promoter said in a podcast interview this week that he thought that age was beginning to catch up with the Mexican fighter, citing his recent victory in Riyadh against William Scull of Cuba. Hearn also predicted that Alvarez, 63-2-2 (39), would retire following his planned September bout against Crawford, 41-0 (31).

Hearn said that he thought Canelo’s timing had slipped as his age was beginning to catch up with him. The fighter, he said, had struggled to cut the ring off when facing Scull.

He said: “Canelo is amazing, not just for his ability and for what he’s accomplished, but the fact that he still has the desire for those training camps and those fights. But I just feel like that desire might be fading a little bit, not because of his love but because of his age.”

He added: “Don’t get me wrong; the Crawford fight will definitely get him up for it, but I was watching the [Scull] fight, thinking that I wouldn’t be surprised if he retired and actually didn’t fight Crawford. I don’t think he’ll want to lose to Crawford, who’s a much-smaller guy, just because [Canelo] is at the end of the road. But the fights are so big, and the money has gotten so big, that he’s going to have to take it.”

(Leigh Dawney/Queensberry)

Hearn went on, laying out the case for Canelo to hang up his boots after nearly 20 years of professional boxing.

He said: “Maybe it was just fighting in Saudi or the negative opponent, but I was sitting next to Bud [Crawford] for the whole fight, and I was thinking, You’ll beat him. Don’t get me wrong; this is a tough fight for both. It’s a great fight, but the movement of Terence Crawford, the ring IQ, and he looks the younger, fresher fighter, even though they’re both 36 and 38.”

(Actually, Alvarez is 34, while Crawford is 37)

Hearn’s remarks come as the match between Crawford and Alvarez has tipped into disarray in recent days with the date of the bout being moved from 12 to 13 September, causing the location having to be changed. At the time of writing, five locations across three US cities are being considered for the bout with a kick-off press conference to take place in a few weeks in Riyadh.

When the fight was first announced some weeks ago, it was determined that the venue was to be Allegiant Stadium, just outside downtown Las Vegas. However, the shift in date has led to a clash with other events to be held there, necessitating a move to an as-yet-unknown new site.

News also broke this week that UFC maestro Dana White has been cut out from promoting the boxing card in what would have been a flagship event for TKO Boxing, a company formed from the merger of the UFC and the WWE. It is now understood that Sela, which promotes sporting events through Saudia Arabia, will be the fight’s promoters.

There is also ongoing confusion as to which broadcaster will be carrying the super-fight between two of the sport’s biggest stars, with Turki Alalshikh posting on X in recent days that the broadcast has not been decided.