While Ilia Topuria is, arguably, the UFC’s best fighter he is still an unknown to pound-for-pound boxing superstar Terence Crawford.
Heading into this weekend’s Canelo vs. Crawford card, the UFC lightweight king used his social platforms to try and thrust his name into the discussion to face the winner, and continued to talk after Crawford used the same entrance music as the MMA star before his victory on Saturday.
“First, he calls me drunk… then he walks out to 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,” Topuria wrote on X this weekend.
Well, the new undisputed super middleweight champion was asked about the recent callouts from the UFC star. And Crawford was a bit confused, because he really doesn’t know who Topuria is.
Terence Crawford: ‘I Didn’t Even Know Who He Was’
“To be honest, I’ve never even seen this dude fight,” Crawford said on The Ariel Helwani Show. “I’m not worried about that guy at all. I didn’t even know who he was. When he saw me at the UFC, he came up and shook my hand and said what’s up to me. I didn’t even know who he was.
“But then I see him online talking about how he would knock me out in the first round. 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… I definitely think he’s trying to clout chase.” I think he will get in the ring with me for the right check. That’s what we all do it for… What money would I get out of fighting him?”
When Helwani suggested a fight with Topuria could be lucrative, since the 2017 clash between Floyd Mayweather and UFC legend Conor McGregor was a huge hit, Crawford quickly shut down the idea. Letting the MMA reporter know Topuria is not even close to as big a star as “Notorious.”
“He’s nowhere near the level of Conor McGregor. Don’t ever compare him to Conor,” he said. “Like I said, I don’t know this guy. I’ve never seen him fight, and I watch a lot of MMA. I’ve seen Conor McGregor fight a lot of times.”
