Ilia Topuria challenges Terence Crawford after his victory
After Terence Crawford’s outstanding performance, who became the undisputed super middleweight champion by defeating Canelo Álvarez, 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 test his skills in boxing and face Crawford, the undisputed champion in three divisions. Topuria used social media to express his confidence in knocking out Crawford if they face each other in the ring. Crawford responded by calling him “delusional” and “drunk”. On Saturday, during the night of the fight, Topuria reacted to 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 presentations.Crawford not only ignored Topuria’s new challenges, but also called him a “fame seeker” and stated that he is not at Conor McGregor’s level. During an interview on “The Ariel Helwani Show”, Crawford 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.
Ilia Topuria
Crawford also mentioned 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. Crawford stated:I definitely think he’s looking for fame. I think he would get in the ring with me just for the fight purse. We all do it for that, but at the same time, I don’t know what he’s doing. I don’t know what he’s thinking. There’s nothing to talk about.
Terence Crawford
Despite the economic benefits that boxing and MMA fights have generated for the participants, Crawford sees no value in a fight with “El Matador” and ruled out any comparison with the 2017 fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and McGregor. Crawford wondered: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 he wanted to fight me, he had the opportunity to tell me: ‘Hey man, I want to fight you. What’s up?’ That’s fake.
Terence Crawford
What money would I get from fighting him? Tell me how much I’m going to earn from fighting him. He’s not even close to Conor McGregor’s level. Let’s be realistic. Period. Don’t even compare him to Conor… Like I said, I don’t know this guy. I’ve never seen this guy fight, and I watch a lot of MMA.
Terence Crawford
