Terence Crawford has been receiving plenty of plaudits since he hung up the gloves in December, but there is one reigning world champion who believes that ‘Bud’ is far from the ‘legend’ that he is being portrayed as.

Last year, Crawford beat Canelo Alvarez to claim the undisputed super-middleweight world title and, in doing so, became the first post-war three-division undisputed champion and just the second fighter in boxing history to achieve that feat – joining Henry Armstrong in an exclusive club.

Off the back of that win, ‘Bud’ made the decision to walk away from the sport at the age of 38 years old, refusing a lucrative offer for a rematch with the Mexican superstar.

One man seemingly wasn’t impressed with that decision, as speaking to FightHypeWBC welterweight champion Ryan Garcia explained why he believes Crawford damaged his legacy by retiring.

“I don’t f**k with him, at all, and I would love to fight him but he is already retired, see. He got out before the young and hungry fighters came through, he knew that the young lions were coming in. He owes me.

“Every great champion does it, you have got to fight one of those young, hungry motherf***ers. Muhammad Ali beat George Foreman when George Foreman was a young, hungry animal, that is what made him into a legend.

“Terence Crawford is not a legend yet, I don’t know why people are trying to talk about ‘he is a legend’. He is an all-time-great, he is a Hall-of-Famer, but a legend? Nah, not even close. There’s a lot of big moments that should have happened, I am here to become a legend.

“He owes me a fight, he owes [Jaron] Ennis a fight, he owes Vergil Ortiz Jr. a fight, he should of ran it. He still had so much in the tank. They are trying to act like he was old and had injuries, bro didn’t have none of that s**t.”

Garcia’s words are the latest in an ongoing back-and-forth between he and the Omaha switch-hitter, whom he believes he could tempt out of retirement if successful against Conor Benn on Saturday, September 12.

Over two years ago, Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia birthed one of boxing’s most fierce rivalries, but both now reign as world champions in the welterweight division.

In April 2024, Garcia had been poised to challenge for Haney’s WBC super-lightweight world title, but ‘King Ry’ lost that opportunity when he weighed in three pounds over the 140lb limit.

The bout went ahead and in a shocking turn of events, the presumedly ill-prepared Garcia was dominant, flooring the champion on three occasions on route to a majority-decision victory.

Yet, the drama was not done there, as Garcia later tested positive for Ostarinewith Haney appealing the result of the fight and having it overturned to a no-contest.

Haney has since gone on to capture the WBO welterweight crown, whilst Garcia claimed the WBC world title earlier this year. Speaking on the Ring Champs YouTube channelformer welterweight undisputed champion, Terence Crawford, predicted that Haney would get the better of Garcia, if a unification rematch were to take place.

“Ryan Garcia [is] cool but he ain’t smart enough [to beat elite fighters]. It’s just that he and Devin fought each other so many times [in the amateurs]they just know each other.

“I think that all of the antics before the fight distracted Devin and caught him off guard, he took Ryan lightly.

“I do [think it would be different if they fought again] because, if you watch the fight, he was just getting hit with the same punch over and over and over.”

Garcia is set to defend his world title for the first time when he is tasked with Conor Benn on Saturday, September 12whilst Haney is still waiting to confirm an opponent for his first outing of 2026.

Shakur Stevenson has been offered the chance to reclaim his old title in a rematch with one of the sport’s most relentless pressure fighters.

The 29-year-old is coming off arguably a career-best performance against Teofimo Lopezwho he dethroned with a wide points victory in January.

As a result, the skilful southpaw became a four-weight world champion by claiming the WBO 140lb title, but has expressed an openness to drop back down to 135lbs.

Either way, Stevenson is expecting to return to action later this year after inking a promotional deal with Dana White’s Zuffa Boxing.

The only issue, it seems, is that many of his most desirable opponents – including Devin Haney, Gervonta Davis and Gary Antuanne Russell – are either aligned to a different promoter or broadcaster, inactive or set to secure a different opportunity altogether.

There could, however, be a chance for Stevenson to reclaim his WBC lightweight title after being stripped of the belt following his victory over Lopez.

This would arrive in the form of a rematch with William Zepeda, who claimed the vacant strap with a unanimous decision victory over Lamont Roach last weekend.

Stevenson has claimed that Zepeda was his toughest fight to date and the best chance of somebody coming close to beating him.

“It ain’t going to happen [somebody having a close fight against me]. The most y’all ever going to get is Zepeda – that was y’all’s best hope and chance at getting resistance.

“His style, styles make fights. The style that would give me the most resistance would be the guy who throws a million punches a round, and doesn’t stop punching.”

Speaking with Fight Hub TVthe Mexican insisted that he would be happy to enter a second encounter with Stevenson at either lightweight or super-lightweight.

“Yes, I would very much like [a rematch with Stevenson at] 135 or 140[lbs].”

While Zepeda did show genuine signs of improvement against Roach, his convincing unanimous decision defeat to Stevenson, in July 2025, has meant that there is little appetite for a rematch.