Ilia Topuria made another push to align himself with Terence Crawford in the aftermath of Saturday’s boxing superfight win over Canelo Alvarez.
Early in fight week, UFC lightweight champion Topuria (17-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) went on social media and claimed he would knock out Crawford (42-0) with his first punch if they met inside the boxing ring. That bold statement was met with amusement when Crawford wrote Topuria off as delusional and “drunk.”
Then, prior to his brilliant performance to defeat Canelo by unanimous decision at Allegiant Stadium to become undisputed champion in a third boxing division, Crawford walked out to the ring to the sound of “Canción del Mariachi” by Antonio Banderas, which is the same music Topuria uses when he walks to the cage.
Crawford quickly brushed off the comparison in walkout tracks when asked about it post-fight. For Topuria, however, it was something he took personally and further fuels his interest in a showdown with Crawford in a boxing ring (via X):
UFC CEO Dana White has said he is not interested in doing future crossover bouts between UFC fighters and boxers. Topuria said at a press conference following one of his WOW events in Spain that he thinks he can persuade the brass to give him the same opportunity Conor McGregor received when he boxed Floyd Mayweather in 2017.
“It’s something I want to do, and I don’t think (White) will tell me he doesn’t want to help me achieve my dream,” Topuria said. “I’ll have his support, I have no doubt about that. It’ll take some convincing, but I’m sure it’ll work out.”
