One of the top pound-for-pound boxers in the world, Terence Crawford, was asked to respond to UFC star Ilia Topuria’s KO promise.
Terence Crawford and Canelo Alvarez are just days away from squaring off in one of the biggest fights in boxing history this Saturday in Las Vegas. In a significant move up in weight, Crawford will challenge for Alvarez’s super middleweight titles in an attempt to add to his legacy.
Despite Crawford’s boxing accolades and accomplishments, UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria is confident he’d knock out Crawford in a potential crossover fight. Topuria most recently knocked out Charles Oliveira at UFC 317 to become the promotion’s latest two-division champion.
As Topuria prepares to make his first UFC lightweight title defense, he’s entertained the possibility of clashing with Crawford in the ring.
Terence Crawford mic-drops Ilia Topuria in response to knockout threat
Topuria took aim at Crawford in a recent post to X.
“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,” Topuria tweeted.
“I put him to sleep in the first contact!!”
It didn’t take long for Crawford to take notice of Topuria’s viral remarks.
During his media day press conference ahead of his fight with Alvarez, Crawford was asked to respond to Topuria’s tweet.
“That dude’s drunk,“ Crawford replied. “A lot of MMA guys, they drink a lot. He must have been on that alcohol.”
Crawford recently picked former UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt as MMA’s top boxer, despite Topuria making a strong case with his highlight-reel knockouts. While it’s uncertain if his pick ignited his new feud with Topuria, it certainly added to the storyline.
Topuria rose to superstardom when he knocked out Alexander Volkanovski for the UFC featherweight title last year at UFC 298. He went on to knock out Max Holloway before vacating the featherweight belt, moving up to lightweight and defeating Oliveira.