Eddie Hearn believes Canelo Alvarez will decide to retire this year after his clash with Terence Crawford.
The Mexican has achieved it all in the boxing ring, duelling with the likes of Floyd Mayweather, Gennady Golovkin and Amir Khan.
He recently beat William Scull in a lacklustre display but crowned himself an undisputed world champion at 168lbs again.
The win set up a mega clash with Terence Crawford in September, arguably the biggest fight in boxing right now.
Alvarez has a four-fight deal with Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh, and could receive new challenges if he wins including from Chris Eubank Jr.
And he indicated he would likely look to retire in 2029, several years down the line.
But Matchroom Boxing kingpin Hearn, who previously promoted Alvarez for several fights believes it will, astonishingly, be this year that he retires.
He said: “I think the Crawford fight will be his last fight.
“There’s no intel there and I’ve not had any conversations with him.
“But after watching that Scull fight — and don’t get me wrong, Scull was unbelievably negative — after Crawford, what is there to do? Do you wanna go to England and have a fight?
“Yeah, I guess that could appeal to [him]. But I don’t know. I just think Father Time, the body, the mojo, I don’t know.
“I actually thought during the Scull fight, ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if he just didn’t fight Crawford.’
“Because he’s never really liked the fight, as a fight. Because I think he feels like, ‘Why would I get credit like beating a guy three divisions below me, two divisions now, below me?’
“And he moves a lot and he’s good and he’s awkward and he’s just gonna be [difficult].
“But obviously the money just becomes so big that he’s gonna take the fight.
“I think it’s probably more the training camps [that will make Alvarez retire]. It’s a huge toll on the body.”
Alvarez has a list of achievements that are hardly rivalled in the sport right now.
The pound-for-pound contender still has a sensational skillset, but some have questioned whether he is beginning to show signs of physical decline.
For now, the Crawford bout is his priority, but a victory would make a fitting final bow.
The event promises to be of huge commercial value, with Dana White even set to promote it.
