MIAMI – Jake Paul doubts Terence Crawford is actually retired.
Crawford, who recently vacated his WBC super middleweight title, announced Tuesday on social media that he will be hanging up his gloves. Crawford was in talks to step in against Paul when Gervonta Davis withdrew, but the matchup never materialized.
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Paul (12-1) will instead take on former two-time unified heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua (28-4) on Friday at Kaseya Center in Miami. The fight streams on Netflix.
Paul and Most Valuable Promotions claimed that Crawford was 100 percent in before the Joshua bout was finalized, but something tells Paul that a fight with Crawford could still be on the horizon.
“He’d have to get in line,” Paul told reporters, including MMA Junkie, during a media scrum Tuesday. “Canelo, Crawford, all of these guys can just take a ticket, and we’ll see who I want to fight. He’s not retired, bro. You guys have seen this millions of times in boxing. He’s not retired, but he’s got everyone talking about him now because of that, so smart play by Terence.”
Crawford, 38, is the only male boxer in the four-belt era to hold undisputed titles in three divisions: lightweight, welterweight, and super welterweight. His most recent bout came in an upset win over Canelo Alvarez in September.
Crawford retires with a perfect 42-0 record.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Jake Paul: Terence Crawford ‘is not retired, bro’
