Terence Crawford shuts down fight with UFC superstar Ilia Topuria: “Don’t compare him to Conor”

After their recent back-and-forths, boxing superstar Terence Crawford laughed off comparisons between Ilia Topuria and Conor McGregor.

Terence Crawford added to his spotless legacy by defeating Canelo Alvarez by unanimous decision to win Alvarez’s super middleweight titles. Crawford continued his undefeated start to his boxing career and added his name to the GOAT discussion.

Leading up to the Alvarez fight, Crawford and UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria have exchanged jabs from afar. Topuria promised to ‘knock out’ Crawford in the first round if they were to meet in the boxing ring.

Crawford laughed off Topuria’s initial taunts, but talks of a potential fight with the UFC star have resurfaced in the hours after the Alvarez fight. But Crawford isn’t sold that a crossover fight with Topuria would be a high-demand venture.

Terence Crawford claims he’s ‘never seen Ilia Topuria fight’ after recent beef

During a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, Crawford reacted to his recent back-and-forths with Topuria from afar.

“To be honest, I’ve never seen [Ilia] fight,” Crawford said of Topuria. “I didn’t even know who he was. When I saw him at the UFC, he came up and shook my hand, said ‘What’s up’ to me. I didn’t even know who he was, but then I saw him online talking about he’d knock me out in the first round. Well if you want to fight me, you had the opportunity to tell me ‘I want to fight you’. And that’s fake.

“If I want to fight someone, for whatever reason, I’d say ‘Hey what’s up man, what do you think about me and you fighting?’. I’m not going to go on a keyboard and go ‘I’ll knock this dude out’. i definitely think he’s trying to clout chase, he’d definitely get in the ring with me for the right check. But I don’t know what he’s thinking…he doesn’t know what’s he’s talking about.”

Crawford was then pressed on whether or not he’d entertain fighting Topuria.

“For what? What money would I get out of fighting him?” Crawford replied. “Please, he’s not nowhere near on the level of Conor McGregor. Don’t ever compare him to Conor. Conor was [high], and he’s [low]. I’ve never seen this guy fight, and I watch a lot of MMA, maybe I’m slipping.

“Maybe he’s a good fighter, keep up the good work in his career and I wish him the best.”

Topuria won the UFC lightweight title by knocking out Charles Oliveira at UFC 317 in June. He’s expected to defend the belt in the coming months, with several prominent names in the mix for a potential showdown.

Since Conor McGregor fought Floyd Mayweather Jr. in their 2017 crossover fight, several top UFC names have teased moves into the boxing ring. Topuria might become the latest UFC star to square off with one of boxing’s biggest stars.