Terence Crawford eyed to reverse retirement for ‘biggest fight in boxing’ after broadcast row

Eddie Hearn believes Terence Crawford will come out of retirement to face Jaron Ennis.

Crawford retired at the top of the sport with a perfect record after beating Canelo Alvarez in September last year to become undisputed super-middleweight champion.

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‘Bud’ vacated the belts and chose not to rematch the Mexican despite becoming America’s biggest star in the sport by some distance.

He did look to a potential fight at 160lbs against Janibek Alimkhanuly to make history, but after he failed a drugs test, Crawford decided enough is enough.

However, when appearing as an analyst at the weekend for Andy Ruiz’s comeback defeat, the Omaha native got caught up in the sport again.

Crawford was caught on a live broadcast exchanging words with unified super-welterweight champion Ennis.

Ennis claimed he would beat Crawford in a clash, and the boxing icon responded, suggesting he’d win with ease if the pair met.

The confrontation even continued off camera, where Ennis called for the clash, which would be a passing of the torch to the rising American superstar.

After seeing the clash, Ennis’ promoter Hearn clearly has a vision that he wants to carry out.

And providing ‘Boots’ becomes undisputed king in his next two fight, Hearn believes the lure would be too much to ignore.

He explained to Ring Magazine: “I’ve wanted this fight for so long.

“I rate Crawford so highly but I’m just such a huge believer in Jaron Ennis, and I think this will be the fight that will be the biggest fight in boxing.

“Boots is probably going to fight Josh Kelly and has to see if he can beat him, if he beats him he’ll fight Fundora, and if he becomes undisputed I think the Crawford fight will happen.”

“I think it’s an unbelievable fight. Boots is a superstar, he’s paving his way.

“Crawford is the ultimate competitor, his body is breaking down and maybe he won’t fight again but at the same time he’s the ultimate competitor.

“I know he’s looking at Boots up and down and thinking ‘I’ll do you’, so we’ll see.”

Crawford would likely demand a huge purse, and has firmly shut the door on the clash in the past.

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Ennis had previously accused Crawford of avoiding him when the pair crossed paths in the same weight class in 2024.

A showdown would be huge for American boxing, and would likely have huge commercial interest.