Crawford Calls McGregor's $200 Million Fight Claim A 'Lie'

Terence Crawford has a simple response to Conor McGregor's $200 million claim — it never happened.

McGregor said Turki Alalshikh had put a two-fight deal on the table worth $200 million, with an MMA bout coming first before a boxing meeting, and that Crawford turned it down because he was afraid of being kicked. Crawford appeared on the same show and dismantled the account piece by piece.

"That was a lie. It was cap. There was never a $200 million offer, they asked me what I'd do, and I told them, 'You ain't about to be kicking on me, Conor.' We were on FaceTime and I did tell him that. But they didn't say, 'Hey, you got $200 million. You fight him in boxing and MMA.' That was never the case. If it was said to me, I could say there was an offer, but if nothing is privy to me, I can't say what is what. He's making up numbers, in my head,” Crawford

Crawford acknowledged the conversation happened. He denies the number and the formal offer. What Crawford said next is the more interesting part of his response. Having disputed the offer's existence, he did not dispute the fight's appeal.

"I would have done it. Why wouldn't I? I don't need to do it today after retiring. Back then, it would have been a good deal. Right now, where I'm sitting, I don't need to do it. That's the thing — I'm in a different space in my life right now, where I don't have to take those fights. Back then, I probably would have taken it,” Crawford

Crawford retired last year after defeating Canelo Alvarez to become a three-weight undisputed world champion — the defining result of a career that placed him among the finest boxers of his generation. He walked away at the top.

McGregor's version of events puts Crawford in the position of a man who turned down life-changing money out of fear. Crawford's version puts McGregor in the position of a man fabricating numbers about a conversation that was considerably less formal than he described.