Boxing

UFC Champ Ilia Topuria's Photo With Terence Crawford Sparks Confusion Among Boxing Fans

A photo of Terence Crawford that UFC champion Ilia Topuria posted is raising eyebrows.
Grant Young|
IMAGO / Torsten Helmke

Much has been made about Terence Crawford jumping up several weight divisions to fight Canelo Alvarez for Alvarez's undisputed super middleweight belts on September 13.

While there is a ton of excitement about this showdown, some boxing fans are worried about whether Crawford will be able to compensate for being at a size disadvantage against Canelo. Because of this, there has been a lot of speculation on how Crawford was going to prepare his body for the bout.

Some believe that Crawford's best course of action was to put on as much weight as possible to match Canelo's power and hopefully have a better chance of absorbing the Mexican superstar's punches. Others believe Crawford would be wiser to remain lean so that he can maximize his speed and ability advantages, especially because he probably wouldn't have enough power to knock Canelo out anyway.

Floyd Mayweather's former manager backs Terence Crawford against Canelo Alvarez
IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

Because of these questions, fans have been fascinated to see what Crawford would look like physically heading into the September 13 fight.

In the lead-up to the fight, Crawford has posted several photos of himself without his shirt off. And given that Crawford has looked absolutely shredded in these photos, fans were convinced that he is opting to remain lean and keep his speed advantage over Canelo.

However, a recent photo that has surfaced now has fans confused.

Ilia Topuria's Terence Crawford Photo Sparks Questions

On September 6, reigning UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria posted a photo of himself alongside Crawford on X with the caption, "Who wins in a fight?"

Crawford lacks any muscle definition in the photo, which has fans baffled about his appearance.

Wade Plemons, who is a commentator for Ring Magazine, replied to this post and wrote, "Wait a second.. is this pic from today??

"Where is the shredded Bud Crawford I saw yesterday 🧐".

Another fan posted side-by-side photos of Crawford's physique in this photo compared to his most recent shirtless post that Plemons alluded to.

Despite the confusion that Topuria's photo has caused, reports are now coming out that the photo of him and Crawford is from back in June, when Topuria was in town to fight for the UFC lightweight belt.

This would make much more sense, and would explain why Crawford's physique looks completely different in the photo of the two together than the ones he has been posting recently.

It seems that fans can expect the more ripped version of Crawford to enter the ring against Canelo next weekend.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young is a Staff Writer for On SI’s Boxing, New York Mets, Indiana Fever, and Women’s Fastbreak sites. Before joining SI in 2024, he wrote for various boxing and sports verticals such as FanBuzz and NY Fights. Young has a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a master’s degree in creative writing with an emphasis on sports nonfiction from the University of San Francisco, where he played five seasons of Division 1 baseball. He fought Muay Thai professionally in Thailand in 2023, loves a good essay, and is driven crazy trying to handle a pitpull puppy named Aura. Young lives in San Diego and was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area.