Recent training footage of Terence Crawford has sparked rumours that the pound-for-pound superstar could be planning a comeback. Fellow former welterweight champion Shawn Porter has now weighed in.

Crawford and Porter fought back in 2021 in what turned out to be Porter’s final bout, with ‘Bud’ defending his WBO title via round 10 stoppage and then continuing his welterweight KO streak in clashes with David Avanesyan and Errol Spence Jr to claim the undisputed title at 147lbs.

The Omaha southpaw then got his hands on super-welterweight world honours with a triumph over Israil Madrimov, before the crowning moment of his career – an undisputed super-middleweight title win against Canelo Alvarez.

The undefeated sensation hung up the gloves just three months later, but footage of him back in the gym has led fans to believe that Crawford could soon return.

However, in an interview with About Boxing, Porter all but shut down those suggestions, revealing that Crawford’s retirement plans were in place long before his triumph over Canelo and that his decision was not made without serious thought.

“Without saying too much, I will say that I don’t think he is going to come back. I don’t want to say that I know he is not going to come back because I feel like that is saying too much, but we have had our conversations a long time before he even fought Canelo Alvarez.

“We have had conversations over the years and I knew that time was coming after that Canelo fight, what else do you want to do?”

Instead, it is understood that Crawford’s return to the gym was done to aid stablemate Lester Martinez, who takes on Luka Plantic on Saturday in an attempted second defence of his WBC Interim super-middleweight title.