If it’s true ( and it stays that way ) then I don’t blame him. Not much left for him that’s worth risking.
Yeah he doesn’t wanna lose his unbeaten record against unknown champs an contenders at super middleweight an middleweight an he knows no one wants to see a rematch with washed up Canelo
The correct choice from his perspective; Janibek popped, Canelo rematch isn’t interesting, the only real options he had were going down to 154 which would include losing the weight and muscle he put on for Canelo, and that has its risks being a 38 year old. The second option would be fighting Bivol, Beterbiev or Benavidez at 175 which would be a step too far even by Bud’s admission.
This was a case where he could have kept going but there was no next move. He didn't want LHW and this might be the single worst era of 160 in history. The risk v reward of a MW reign lined up even less then it did for Floyd and Manny. Crawford could have fought Lara just for the sake of crossing 160 off the divisional checklist but he already did that at 154(tradition MW) and 168. Crawfords reached a point where every fights got to add something to his legacy. He was going to fight Janibek but if he had that was probably his last fight anyway. Fighting a 43 year old is lose lose. If he'd lost to Janibek well maybe Janibek is just that good but if he struggled with Lara, Lara was very evidently not the best 154 during the Mayweather era and now hes 43. Can't really be massaged.
There's no middleweight that would beat him at the moment, but they're all no mark fights that would barely draw an audience.
I think if Janibek didn't pop it would have been interesting enough for him to hang around for. But a good dancer knows when to exit the stage and Bud does so as the number one fighter in the world. I believe he's been the best of his time and like all such fighters, he will slowly get appreciated as time goes.
6 fights in the last 6 years. I loved watching the guy but he could have made much more with his talent and constitution.
I'll believe it when i see it. If he does stick to it it sure won't hurt him historically - his star will only go up.
You can't exactly force people into the ring. You're basically blaming him for Pacman, Garcia, Spence (for some time), Thurman etc refusing to fight him.