Outside Source
Terence Crawford def. Canelo Alvarez with scores of 116-112 and 115-113 (twice.) | 📷: Getty
Ilia Topuria may be a big deal in the UFC, but he’s a virtual nobody in Terence Crawford ’s world.
Crawford is the talk of the combat sports community following his unanimous decision victory over Canelo Alvarez at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Winning one of the most highly-anticipated boxing matches in recent memory established “Bud” as one of the top fighters of his generation — and put him on another level in terms of stardom.
During an apppearance on the “The Ariel Helwani Show,” Crawford recalled meeting Topuria at a UFC event, but he didn’t really know much about “El Matador” until the Georgian-Spaniard began calling him out on social media.
In Crawford’s mind, Topuria should have mentioned his interest in a crossover fight when the two were face to face.
“To be honest, I’ve never even seen this dude fight. I’m not going to lie,” Crawford said. “I’m not worried about that guy at all. It’s crazy how things work. I didn’t even know who he was. When he saw me at the UFC and came up and shook my hand saying what’s up to me, I didn’t even know who he was.
“But then I see him online talking about how he’d knock me out in the first round, and this and that. Well 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. If I don’t like someone and 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 go hide behind the keyboard and then be like, ‘I’ll knock this dude out.’ I think that’s fake.”
UFC fighters transitioning to boxing in various forms has become commonplace in recent years, and Crawford understands Topuria’s logic: It’s all about the bottom line — or at the very least, getting a little more publicity
“I definitely think he’s trying to clout chase. I think he’d definitely get in the ring with me for the right check,” Crawford said. “That’s what we all do it for. But at the same time, I don’t know what the f—k he’s doing. I don’t know what he’s thinking. He ain’t even nothing to talk about.”
Crawford: Topuria Nowhere Near Level of Conor McGregor
Topuria seems to be trying to follow a career timeline similar to Conor McGregor. “El Matador” began his UFC tenure by capturing featherweight gold before moving up in weight to become a two-division champ by knocking out Charles Oliveira at UFC 317 this past June. After McGregor became a two-division UFC champion, he transitioned to a massive crossover fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in August 2017. While that secured a significant payday for the Irish star, his Octagon appearances have been inconsistent at best since then.
Crawford doesn’t believe a boxing match against Topuria would generate the same level of interest — especially on the heels of a blockbuster booking with Alvarez.
“What money would I get out of fighting him? Tell me how much I’d get out of fighting him,” Crawford said. “He’s not nowhere near on the level of Conor McGregor. Let’s be real. Stop it. Don’t ever compare him to Conor. Conor was [up top], he’s [way lower]. 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, for sure.
“I’ve seen Conor McGregor fight a lot of times. I’m just saying. Him and Conor, it’s night and day … How much are we going to make? Am I going to make more with him than I made with Canelo? Am I going to make close? Listen, tell that guy keep up the good work in his career. I wish him nothing but the best.”
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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