- Riyadh Season chair Turki Alalshikh dropped a public tease that Crawford could return "maybe in 2027" — pitched alongside a fourth undisputed run
- The bait: a rematch with Canelo Alvarez, the fight Crawford left behind when he walked away undefeated at 42-0
- Crawford has been firm on retirement publicly — but a Saudi-funded comeback is the kind of offer that has historically loosened a lot of those positions
Right Then — Alalshikh Doesn't Tease For Nothing
Right then. Oscar De La Hoya isn't the only man who can sell a fight by talking about one. Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of Riyadh Season and the de facto money behind every super-fight on the planet right now, has put a Terence Crawford comeback on the public board. The post landed on May 2 in the middle of Cinco de Mayo fight week. The wording was deliberate — playful, but pointed. "With the legend Terence Crawford … Maybe in 2027 if he waste his money."
Make no mistake about what that is. That isn't an idle aside. Alalshikh doesn't post about a fighter unless there's an offer on the table behind the scenes, and he doesn't put a year next to a name unless the camp has acknowledged the conversation. The Crawford-Canelo rematch is the fight he wants. The 2027 timeline is the runway he's giving everyone to make peace with the idea.
The State Of Crawford's Retirement
Terence Crawford closed the book on his career last year on a 42-0 record after the unanimous decision over Canelo Alvarez in Las Vegas. He was already a three-division undisputed king. The Canelo win added the super middleweight crown and gave him an argument as one of the very best of any era. He retired with everything boxing has to give. He retired clean.
Publicly, his position has not moved. He's been firm. The family conversation has happened. The body has had the year off. Multiple offers — a Jaron Ennis showdown, a summer return on a Saudi card, ringside celebrity money — have been reportedly floated and reportedly waved away. He has every right to enjoy his fortune, his family, and a sport in his rear-view.
Why The Rematch Move Makes Saudi Sense
Let's not beat around the bush. The Crawford-Canelo rematch is the easiest fight in boxing for Riyadh Season to sell. The first fight did monster pay-per-view numbers. The Mexican audience wants the rematch. Crawford-Canelo II would headline a card built around it for a flat eight-figure cheque to each fighter and a venue that prints money — Riyadh, Las Vegas, or Mexico City, take your pick.
And here's the bit you can't ignore. Canelo himself has said the rematch is on his bucket list. His own September return is being framed as the run-up to a 2027 super-fight. The whole calendar is being arranged around a fight that one of the participants has formally retired from. That's not a coincidence. That's a plan.
Will Crawford Actually Come Back?
Honest answer? I don't know. And anyone telling you they do is lying. What I will say is this: a year ago we were all writing the same kind of column about Floyd Mayweather staying retired and that one's currently being rewritten by the week. Boxing retirements are a soft commitment until the cheque is hard.
If Crawford takes it, the timing is sensible. 2027 means a full two years off, which is the kind of camp window that lets a fighter rebuild rather than rust. He'd be 39. Canelo would be 36. The rematch is competitive in a way the first fight surprisingly was. And the legacy stakes for both — Crawford as the man who cleaned out a fourth division, Canelo as the man who avenged the only blot on his late career — would be massive.
What I'd Want If I Were Crawford
If I were Bud, I'd want three things on the table before I signed. One — a flat number, in writing, that puts him over $50m gross for the night. Two — a venue and a date he gets to pick. Three — a clear "this is the last one" arc, not a signed multi-fight extension. Boxing has chewed up too many returners who fought once back to a cheque, then twice, then four times to chase the early retirement they never properly took.
Alalshikh and the Saudi PIF have proven they can deliver on point one. Point two is easy. Point three is the question. If the offer respects the retirement and treats this as a final chapter rather than a re-opening, Crawford has every reason to consider it.
The Verdict
Alalshikh has put the marker down. 2027. Crawford-Canelo II. The most-asked-about rematch in the sport now has a year next to it, even if it doesn't yet have a signature. If you know how Riyadh Season operates, you know the next move is a quiet meeting in the desert and a number on a piece of paper. The fight isn't dead. The fight was never dead.
If you know, you know. Boxing's biggest rematch just took half a step closer to a contract. Watch this space.