Boxing

UFC Champion Eyes Canelo vs Crawford Winner; Wants To Repeat Mayweather vs McGregor

A UFC champion wants the winner of Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford.
Apratim Banerjee|
Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

Back in 2017, Conor McGregor made the crossover from MMA to Boxing, taking on Floyd Mayweather. The fight secured the biggest payday of the Irishman's career and since then, UFC superstars have shown interest in stepping foot inside the squared circle.

Right now, Canelo Alvarez is the face of boxing. Everyone wants to fight the Mexican as it secures a substantially bigger payday than any other opponent. Canelo, however, has a fight lined up next against Terence Crawford on September 13, with the bout being billed as the fight of the century.

One UFC champion who is looking to emulate what Conor McGregor has done has now called out the winner of Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford.

Floyd Mayweather vs Conor McGregor
IMAGO / Photo News

UFC champion eyes Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford winner

The man in question is UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria. The Georgian Spanish fighter has been on a tear and possesses a 17-0 record with 15 finishes (7 KOs, 8 submissions). He has thunderous power in his hands and arguably the most crisp boxing in the UFC.

Speaking to the Nelk Boys, Topuria said, "I would love to go against the winner of Canelo and Crawford, Canelo, because he was my idol. There's always respect for everyone, but I have to try, why not? I feel like I can do it."

Topuria will need to get sanctioned by the UFC to step foot in the ring. He believes it's possible, adding:

They did it with Conor, why not with me?

Canelo Alvarez has shown respect to Ilia Topuria

Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford did a three city press tour with the last of them being in Las Vegas. He was asked about Ilia Topuria during that event and the Mexican respectfully replied, "First of all, I have never seen him fight a full fight, but I really love him and respect him a lot, and I admire and thank him. I have a lot of gratitude for fighters that take a little bit of my fighting and respect it, it’s awesome to see other fighters like me."

Speaking about potentially fighting Topuria, he added:

Let’s see, in terms of fighting him, first things first, let’s worry about this now.

So how would Canelo Alvarez and Ilia Topuria match up?

Canelo Alvarez

Ilia Topuria

Height

5' 7.5"

5' 8"

Weight

168 lbs

155 lbs

Reach

70.5"

69"

Record

63-2-2 (Boxing)

17-0-0 (MMA)

KOs

39

7

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Apratim Banerjee
APRATIM BANERJEE

Apratim is a Boxing and Soccer reporter for On SI. He has been in the industry for five years, having also worked for The Sporting News, Sportskeeda, EssentiallySports, and more. After coming from an engineering background, he started pursuing a career in sports media. Apratim also holds an MSc. Sport Marketing degree from Loughborough University London and is a keen practitioner of social media and digital marketing. In his spare time, Apratim likes to play an array of sports and practice calisthenics. He is also an avid enthusiast of improving his martial arts skills.