Defeat never crossed Terence Crawford’s mind before he challenged Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez – but would he have been as quick to hang up the gloves if the unthinkable had happened?

‘Bud’ Crawford had just one fight at super-welterweight – winning a world title in a fourth division – before making the 14lbs jump to super-middleweight to face Canelo. Pre-fight, many in the sport said it was a jump too far, even if the Mexican icon was past his best.

For Crawford and his loyal team, they knew he had what it would take to be just the third man to beat Alvarez in 68 fights, following Floyd Mayweather and Dmitry Bivol. And that’s exactly what happened – the main event in Las Vegas ended with a unanimous decision win for the American. Months later he would announce his retirement from the sport, and has stuck to his guns since, proving those who felt it was a bargaining chip for another big fight wrong.

Speaking to Travis Hartman recently, Crawford was asked if retirement was the plan regardless of the fight result.

“Yeah, for sure. I told my coaches, ‘win, lose or draw, this gonna be my last fight.’ My coach was like, ‘good, thank you!’ It’s definitely [for them] especially given the circumstances they know I was going through. Camp and previous camps, on the regular, they know the things that I battle. Just physically – injury here, injury there.

“I never complain about anything. I never said I had an injury and won this fight. I just take it as it is. If i’m gonna get in the ring, I’m not gonna bring that up at all. I’m just gonna fight the fight and do what I do.”

Crawford said that from around his 14th professional fight onwards, he would experience minor niggles and injuries for most of his contests, and wear and tear entered the equation when he found himself consistently at the championship level.

There is, however, another dimension to Crawford’s retirement in that he stepped away at the very top of his game, undefeated and a five-weight world champion. In his own words, he says he has nothing left to accomplish or prove in the sport, and believes the case he has made over 42 fights puts him in the conversation as one of the greatest of all time.

Meanwhile, Canelo fights on, set to return in September in what has been billed as a world title fight but is yet to reach official announcement stage.