Ilia Topuria Claims He is Ready to Knockout Pound-for-Pound Boxing Great Terence Crawford
Ilia Topuria is ready to step into the boxing ring with Terence Crawford.
On Saturday, September 13, ‘Bud’ will face his toughest test yet when he meets legendary pugilist Canelo Alvarez in boxing’s biggest bout of 2025. Emanating from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Canelo vs. Crawford is being co-promoted by Turki Alalshikh and UFC CEO Dana White.
Earlier this year, White officially announced that he was finally jumping from the Octagon to the ring after circling the idea for a decade. Since then, multiple UFC fighters have expressed interest in donning the eight-ounce gloves, including newly minted lightweight world champion Ilia Topuria.
Days before Crawford’s high-profile clash in ‘Sin City,’ Topura shared a picture of himself with ‘Bud’ on social media, asking fight fans who would win between the two.
24 hours later, ‘El Matador’ offered his own prediction.
“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 wrote on X. “I put him to sleep in the first contact!!”
Who’s next for Ilia Topuria?
While Crawford is staring down the barrel of his next big fight, Topuria has not yet booked his first lightweight title defense following an epic first-round knockout of Charles Oliveira in June.
In all likelihood, a showdown with No. 2-ranked contender Arman Tsarukyan is next for Topuria. There’s still a chance we could see a rematch between ‘El Matador’ and Max Holloway at lightweight. Then there’s Justin Gaethje, who’s delivered an ultimatum regarding what he does next inside the Octagon.
