Crawford Dismisses Topuria: Fame Hunter or Real Challenger?

Ilia Topuria Challenges Terence Crawford After His Victory

After Terence Crawford’s impressive victory over Canelo Álvarez, where he was crowned undisputed super middleweight champion, a new challenger has spoken up. However, Crawford doesn’t seem interested in this challenge. Ilia Topuria, the undefeated 28-year-old UFC champion in two divisions, has expressed his desire to test his skills in boxing, aiming for a fight with Crawford, the undisputed champion in three divisions. Topuria used social media to state that he would knock out Crawford if they faced each other in the ring. Crawford responded by calling him “demented” and “drunk”. On Saturday, during the night of the fight, Topuria was annoyed by Crawford’s entrance to the ring with the song “Canción del Mariachi” from the movie “Desperado”, a theme that Topuria also uses in his octagon entrances. Crawford, 37, downplayed the comparison in the post-fight press conference, but the UFC lightweight champion reacted on social media.

First he calls me a drunk, then he comes out with MY song. Crawford, whenever you want, I’ll teach you how to dance that mariachi in the ring. And Canelo, I’ll save you a round after him.

Ilia Topuria

Crawford not only ignored Topuria’s recent comments, but also called him a “clickbaiter” and stated that he is not at Conor McGregor’s level.

I definitely think he’s looking for attention. I definitely think he would get in the ring with me for the check. That’s what we all do it for, but at the same time, I don’t know what the hell he’s doing. I don’t know what he’s thinking. There would be nothing to talk about.

Terence Crawford

Crawford added that he has never seen Topuria fight and questioned why the UFC champion did not express his desire to fight when they met at the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas a few months ago.

When he saw me at the UFC, he came up to shake my hand and say hello. I didn’t even know who he was. But then I see him online talking about how he’s going to knock me out in the first round and this and that. And now this. Well, if you wanted to fight me, you had the opportunity to tell me: ‘Hey, man, I want to fight you. What’s up?’. That’s fake.

Terence Crawford

Although the crossover fights between boxing and MMA have generated significant revenue for the participants, Crawford sees no value in a fight with “El Matador” and rejected any comparison to the 2017 matchup between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and McGregor.

Crawford asked: “How much money would I get for fighting him? Tell me how much I’m going to get for fighting him?”. The news continues…