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UFC champion Ilia Topuria has claimed he would knock out pound-for-pound boxing star Terence Crawford, even in the latter’s preferred sport.
The unbeaten Topuria is one of mixed martial arts’ greatest active knockout artists, having won the featherweight and lightweight titles with knockouts of divisional greats.
In 2024, he stopped Alexander Volkanovski to win the 145lb belt, before doing the same to Charles Oliveira in June to claim the vacant 155lb strap.
In between, he knocked out another former champion in Max Holloway to retain the featherweight gold, but while fans anticipate his first defence at lightweight, “El Matador” has seemingly got one eye on a boxing crossover.
“Who wins in a fight?” the Spanish-Georgian, 28, wrote on X/Twitter, sharing a photo of himself and Crawford.
He then added: “I won’t talk about what would happen between me and Crawford in an octagon, I’ll talk about what would happen in a ring. I put him to sleep in the first contact.”
Crawford, 37, is due to box Saul “Canelo” Alvarez on Saturday (13 September), in one of the biggest commercial fights in years.
The unbeaten American, a four-weight world champion who has been undisputed in two divisions, aims to take the undisputed super-middleweight belts from Alvarez.
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Terence Crawford (right) will box Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez on Saturday (Getty)
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Ilia Topuria winning a second UFC title by knocking out Charles Oliveira (Getty Images)
Alvarez, 35, puts those titles on the line at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, the same city where Topuria beat Oliveira in June.
Topuria was paired with Oliveira after giving up the featherweight title in February. He has since been linked to Justin Gaethje, Arman Tsarukyan and Liverpool’s Paddy “The Baddy” Pimblett at lightweight.