One of the biggest stars in MMA recently got fans talking about how he would fare against one of boxing’s elite fighters.
Ahead of his lightweight title win at UFC 317, Ilia Topuria’s name was put to Canelo Alvarez, with the Mexican star showing a lot of respect to ‘El Matador’.
The Mexican star brushed off the idea of them potentially facing off by making it clear that as of right now, he’s only focused on one opponent.
Alvarez is set to face Terence Crawford this Saturday in a super fight that is being promoted by Dana White.
In a recent social media post, Topuria suggested a fight between him and Crawford instead before going on to share his prediction of how the bout would play out.
Fans react to Ilia Topuria predicting that he’d stop Terence Crawford in a boxing match
When Ilia Topuria first posted a photo of him and Terence Crawford and asked fans to predict how a fight between them would go, there was a common consensus.
A lot of the replies suggested that while the UFC lightweight champion would have a huge advantage if they met inside the Octagon, the balance would shift the opposite way in a boxing match.
Topuria may be known for his incredibly dangerous hands but Crawford recently snubbed ‘El Matador’ when naming the fighter that he believes is the best boxer in the UFC.
In a follow-up to his initial post, the undefeated MMA star agreed with a lot of the fans that there would be no debate as to who would win between him and ‘Bud’ in a mixed martial arts contest.
He went on to make a bold prediction for how a boxing match would unfold, receiving criticism from fans for his incredibly high self-confidence that has been a fixture of his rise in the sport.
‘You need to be humbled.’
‘Crawford by whatever he wants. Lol you’re just mad that Crawford said Cody Garbrandt instead of you.’
‘With boxing gloves? No chance.’
‘Really following Conor’s [McGregor] path aren’t ya. I’d love to see the fight tho.’
‘I doubt you would be able to land one clean shot on Bud in the ring.’
‘Crawford is not an issue, Arman [Tsarukyan] is. Stop ducking bro. You good but prove you can win against an elite wrestler.’
‘Keep dreaming buddy.’
‘Bud would own you in a ring.’
Some fans will no longer doubt anything that Ilia Topuria says
Since his arrival in the UFC, Ilia Topuria has rubbed fans the wrong way at times due to his incredibly high self confidence.
‘El Matador’ has made plenty of bold claims in the past but so far, he’s always backed them up once he steps inside the Octagon.
While stopping Terence Crawford in a boxing match might be a huge prediction that a lot of people were always going to disagree with, there are some that no longer doubt the UFC lightweight champion.
‘The level of confidence to say that you’re going to knock out the greatest boxer of our generation in one contact is savage stuff,” Wrote one fan. ‘Tbh I believe Ilia can do it. I’m never doubting this guy because he predicts things unbelievably and his power is out of this world.’