Terence Crawford, who claimed the title of best pound-for-pound boxer with a convincing victory over Canelo Alvarez in September, announced his retirement on Tuesday.
The 38-year-old Crawford is the only male boxer to capture three unified division titles, which he accomplished with that unanimous decision over Alvarez before 70,482 fans at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
That gave Crawford the super middleweight championship and a 42-0 record with 31 knockouts. His final 20 bouts came with a belt on the line.
“Every fighter knows this moment would come,” Crawford said in a 5 1/2-minute video detailing his decision. “You just never know when.”
Crawford turned pro in 2008 and won titles in four weight classes — lightweight, super lightweight, welterweight and super welterweight — before moving up two more weight divisions for the bout against Alvarez.
Crawford took pride in representing Omaha, Nebraska, the city where he grew up and continued to live.
He probably could have continued to sign up for other fights, and the win over Alvarez showed Crawford still had plenty left in him.
But rather than accept another massive payday, Crawford decided to move on.
“This sport gave me everything," Crawford said. "I fought for my family. I fought for the city. I fought for the kid I used to be, the one who had nothing but a dream and a pair of gloves, and I did it all my way.
“I've made peace with what's next. It's time.”
AP boxing: https://apnews.com/hub/boxing
FILE - Terence Crawford, right, connects with Canelo Alvarez during a super middleweight championship boxing match in Las Vegas, Sept. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/David Becker, File)
FILE - Boxer Terence Crawford attends the NFL football game between the Las Vegas Raiders and the Los Angeles Chargers, Monday, Sept. 15, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri, File)
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The Artemis II astronauts have captured our blue planet’s brilliant beauty as they zoom ever closer to the moon.
NASA released the crew’s first downlinked images Friday, 1 1/2 days into the first astronaut moonshot in more than half a century.
The first photo taken by commander Reid Wiseman shows a curved slice of Earth in one of the capsule’s windows. The second shows the entire globe with the oceans topped by swirling white tendrils of clouds. A green aurora even glows, according to NASA.
“It’s great to think that with the exception of our four friends, all of us are represented in this image," said NASA's Lakiesha Hawkins, an exploration systems leader. She added the mission was going well.
As of late Friday afternoon, Wiseman and his crew were more than 110,000 miles (180,000 kilometers) from Earth and were quickly gaining on the moon with another 150,000 miles (240,000 kilometers) to go. They should reach their destination on Monday.
The three Americans and one Canadian will swing around the moon in their Orion capsule, hang a U-turn and then head straight back home without stopping. They fired Orion's main engine Thursday night that set them on their course.
After Mission Control shifted the position of their capsule, the entire Earth complete with northern lights filled their windows.
“It was the most spectacular moment, and it paused all four of us in our tracks,” Wiseman said in a TV interview.
They're the first lunar travelers since Apollo 17 in 1972.
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NASA's Artemis II moon rocket lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39-B Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
This image taken from video provided by NASA shows the Artemis II crew, from left, Canadien astronaut and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen, Commander Reid Wiseman, mission specialist Christina Koch and pilot Victor Glover as they appear on a video conference from the moon's orbit Thursday, April 2, 2026. (NASA via AP)
This image provided by NASA shows a downlink image of Earth taken by NASA’s Artemis II astronaut commander Reid Wiseman inside the Orion capsule on Friday, April 3, 2026. (NASA via AP)
This image provided by NASA shows a view of Earth taken by NASA astronaut and Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman from of the Orion spacecraft's window after completing the translunar injection burn on April 2, 2026. (NASA via AP)