Terence Crawford revels in upset win over Canelo Alvarez
Terence Crawford reacts to his historic win at over Canelo Alvarez and flips the bird to media who doubted him
Terence Crawford is paying no mind to Ilia Topuria’s repeated callouts and said he has no desire to fight the UFC lightweight champion in a boxing ring.
Topuria (17-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) once again called out Crawford (42-0 boxing) after his historic victory over Canelo Alvarez on Saturday in Las Vegas to become undisputed champion in a third weight class. “El Matador” felt Crawford stole his walkout music for his entrance to the fight and doubled down on his claim he would knock him out in the ring.
Crawford is not impressed by Topuria’s antics, especially because he recalls the energy being entirely different during the one and only time they crossed paths, which was also the time Crawford became aware of Topuria’s existence.
“To be honest, I’ve never even seen this dude fight,” Crawford said Monday on “The Ariel Helwani Show.” “I ain’t even going to lie. I’m not worried about that guy at all. It’s crazy how things work. I ain’t even know who he was. When he saw me at the UFC, he came up to shake my hand and say what’s up to me. I ain’t even know who he was, but then I see him online talking about how he’ll 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 like, ‘Hey, man, I want to fight you. What’s up?’ That’s fake.
“If I don’t like somebody and I want to fight them for whatever reason, I would’ve been like, ‘What’s up, man? What do you think about me and you fighting?’ I’m not going to hide behind the keyboard and things like that and be like, ‘I’ll knock this dude out and this and that.’ I think that’s fake.”
Crawford, 37, said he does think Topuria, 28, is sincere in his desire to challenge him in a boxing ring. But it appears he doesn’t agree with the approach.
“I definitely think he’s trying to clout chase,” Crawford said. “I definitely think he would get in the ring with me for the fight check. That’s what we all do it for, but at the same time, I don’t know what the f*ck he’s doing. I don’t know what he’s thinking. I would – there ain’t even nothing to talk about.”
Ultimately Crawford is searching for any upside or benefit to giving Topuria any of his attention. The natural comparison points to the magnitude of the crossover matchup between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather in 2017, but Crawford sees that as absurd.
Crawford said he thinks Topuria has a long, long way to go before his star power even sniffs the level of McGregor. If that matchup doesn’t bring massive financial upside or currency in the form of global attention, then he struggles to find the point.
“For what? What money would I get out of fighting him? Tell me how much I’m going to get out of fighting him? Please,” Crawford said. “He’s nowhere near on the level of Conor McGregor. Let’s be real. Stop it. Don’t even compare him to Conor. Conor was here (up). He’s here (down). Like 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 slipping. Maybe he’s a good fighter. I don’t know. But I’ve honestly never seen this guy fight. And I’ve seen Conor McGregor fight a lot of times. Just saying. Him and Conor, it’s night and day. It’s night and day. You know it’s night and day. Don’t ever try to say they’re on the same level.”
