Terence Crawford Rejects Ilia Topuria Challenge
After Terence Crawford’s outstanding victory over Canelo Álvarez, where he was crowned undisputed super middleweight champion, a new challenger has spoken up. However, Crawford shows no interest in this challenge. Ilia Topuria, undefeated UFC champion in two weight categories, has expressed his desire to try his luck in boxing and face Crawford, the undisputed champion in three divisions. Topuria used social media to express that he would knock out Crawford if they faced each other in the ring.On Saturday, during the night of the fight, Topuria felt offended by Crawford’s entrance to the ring with the song “Canción del Mariachi” from the movie “Desperado”, the same one that Topuria uses in his Octagon entrances. Crawford, 37, downplayed the comparison in the post-fight press conference, but the UFC lightweight champion responded on social media. Topuria, in a post on X, stated: “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.” Crawford not only ignored Topuria’s provocations, but he called him a “clickbaiter” and stated that he is not at Conor McGregor’s level.Crawford responded by calling him “delusional” and “drunk”.
Crawford went on to say that he had never seen Topuria fight and questioned why the UFC champion didn’t express his desire to fight him when they met at the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas a couple of months ago. Crawford added: “When he saw me in 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 on the internet 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 say to me, ‘Hey, I want to fight you. What’s up?’ That’s fake.” Despite the financial appeal that cross-combat fights between boxing and MMA have generated, Crawford sees no value in a fight with “El Matador” and ruled out any comparison with 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 earn for fighting him? He’s nowhere near Conor McGregor’s level. Let’s be realistic. Leave it. Don’t even compare him to Conor… As I said, I don’t know this guy. I’ve never seen this guy fight, and I watch a lot of MMA.” “Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe he’s a good fighter. I don’t know. But, honestly, I’ve never seen this guy fight. And I’ve seen Conor McGregor fight many times… Never try to say they’re on the same level.”Crawford said during an appearance on “The Ariel Helwani Show”: “I definitely think he’s trying to get attention. I definitely think he would get in the ring with me for the money. That’s what we’re all here 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 wouldn’t even be anything to talk about.”
