UFC’s Ilia Topuria Wants A Boxing Fight With Canelo Alvarez
Ilia Topuria, the UFC featherweight, is targeting a boxing fight with Canelo Alvarez later down the line.
Before Topuria can even think about that, however, he must overcome Alexander Volkanovski on February 17th, 2024, at UFC 298. The latter is currently undefeated at featherweight, although he is coming off a loss to Islam Makhachev after the Australian had moved up to lightweight to take the fight at short notice following Charles Oliveira’s withdrawal. As for Topuria, he is undefeated in the UFC with a current record of 6-0. But if he can overcome the champion, then Canelo could become a possibility.
Following Francis Ngannou’s performance against Tyson Fury, the number of MMA fighters looking to do crossover boxing bouts has increased. The former UFC heavyweight champion troubled Fury by flooring him in round three on his boxing debut. And the threat continued as Ngannou managed to take Fury’s shots as he walked forward until the final round.
Despite losing via a split decision, some former boxers, such as Carl Froch, had given him the win. And now Topuria is looking to do the same by securing a fight with the biggest star in boxing. Alvarez is the current undisputed super middleweight champion who has only been beaten twice at the hands of Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Dmitry Bivol. In response, Topuria made it clear that Canelo was on his hit list.
Topuria On Canelo
“I would love to fight one day with Canelo. I have so, so much respect for him. But I wanna fight with him one day. Once I win the belt and become a UFC world champion, I wanna go for him. Because I really think I have a chance with him. I’ve been following him forever… I believe I have the possibility to beat him,” Topuria said
Nevertheless, there are other fighters who are equally keen on facing Canelo. Jake Paul famously claimed that he was targeting a world title, as well as a fight with Alvarez in the future. The ‘Problem Child’ has made serious efforts to make it in the sport of boxing, having faced his first professional fighter in the form of Tommy Fury. Although he did lose via a split decision, Paul was not letting that loss deter him from the bigger picture, which was Canelo. And after having beaten Nate Diaz, the momentum has come back.
Paul On Canelo
“Canelo has shown and said in interviews that he’s interested in it. So, I think we’re closer than we thought. It’s weird to even say that now, when like three or two years ago I said that, I believed it from day one, but everybody else was like, ‘Who the hell is this kid? Shut this kid up,’ but now it’s pretty real.
“I think the path I’m on now prepares me in the future to fight Canelo. I’m even showing him that I can fight ten or 12 rounds and I’ve done it with real legitimate professional boxers and I beat them. So, when I beat these guys in the next year or two and I keep raising the level of competition, I think against Canelo it becomes a really interesting fight,” Paul stated
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