{"id":467211,"date":"2026-02-11T03:45:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T03:45:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/467211\/"},"modified":"2026-02-11T03:45:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T03:45:09","slug":"shakur-stevenson-calls-out-ilia-topuria-for-boxing-match","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/467211\/","title":{"rendered":"Shakur Stevenson Calls Out Ilia Topuria for Boxing Match"},"content":{"rendered":"

Undefeated boxing champion Shakur Stevenson<\/a> has called out UFC champion Ilia Topuria<\/a> for a boxing match, issuing the challenge during an appearance on Adin Ross’ livestream alongside Terence Crawford<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Stevenson and Crawford appeared on the Kick stream to discuss the state of combat sports when host Ross claimed that the UFC is better than boxing. That sparked a heated response from both boxers, with Stevenson directly targeting Topuria.<\/p>\n

“The skill level is different. Tell him to come fight me,” Stevenson declared.<\/p>\n

Stevenson and Crawford Defend Boxing’s Prestige<\/p>\n

Both Stevenson and Crawford argued that the UFC will never surpass boxing, insisting that MMA stars like Jon Jones and Topuria would get outclassed in a boxing ring. Stevenson is an undefeated three-division world champion with an Olympic silver medal who currently holds world titles at junior welterweight and has drawn comparisons to Floyd Mayweather for his defensive prowess.<\/p>\n

The newly crowned WBO super lightweight titleholder<\/a> has been one of boxing’s most active fighters, and a crossover bout with a UFC champion would only add to his growing profile.<\/p>\n

Topuria’s Long-Standing Boxing Ambitions<\/p>\n

The callout aligns with Topuria’s own stated desire to cross over into boxing. The UFC champion has repeatedly expressed interest in facing elite boxing opponents, including wanting to fight Canelo \u00c1lvarez or the winner of the Crawford vs. Canelo bout.<\/p>\n

Topuria has been vocal about his confidence in the boxing ring, having previously claimed he would knock out Crawford<\/a> in a crossover match. UFC commentator Michael Bisping has even discussed why a Topuria boxing crossover could become reality<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For now, the Stevenson callout remains just talk. No official bout or formal negotiations between the two camps have been reported. Topuria recently signaled his return to the octagon<\/a>, hinting at a potential title fight as his next assignment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Undefeated boxing champion Shakur Stevenson has called out UFC champion Ilia Topuria for a boxing match, issuing the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":467212,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[703,49,48,3262,704,82,13036],"class_list":{"0":"post-467211","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-boxing","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-ilia-topuria","12":"tag-shakur-stevenson","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-terence-crawford"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=467211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467211\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/467212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=467211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=467211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=467211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}