“Everyone wanna be Conor so bad” – Ilia Topuria immediately calls out Canelo Alvarez for boxing payday after UFC title win; fans react

Just days after winning the UFC title, Ilia Topuria called out the boxing legend Canelo Alvarez for a crossover fight. ‘El Matador’ defeated Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 to grab the UFC featherweight title. Following in the footsteps of Irish superstar Conor McGregor, the Spaniard wanted to cross over to boxing and face one of its greats.

In a recent welcome to his home country, Ilia Topuria joined a press meet to address his historic win. He was the first UFC champion from Spain. As such, he expressed his wish to face Canelo Alvarez in a boxing bout. However, this wasn’t the first time ‘El Matador’ mentioned the boxer’s name. Earlier, Topuria stated his interest in fighting Alvarez in his appearance on the Overdogs Podcast. Here is what he said then:

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.

Ilia Topuria (via Low Kick MMA)

Ever since his UFC debut, Ilia Topuria has shown shades of Conor McGregor. Recently, his belt snatch moment at the UFC 298 press conference replicated the altercation between ‘The Notorious’ and Jose Aldo. As such, ‘El Matador’ wanted to go down his path and pursue a lucrative boxing fight. McGregor fought Floyd Mayweather in a monumental MMA-Boxing crossover bout, which was a humongous success. This pioneered all the cross-over bouts happening in recent times.

Canelo Alvarez is a multiple weight-class boxing champion with numerous titles. As such, a boxing bout with him would be a tough task. However, the newly crowned UFC featherweight champion welcomed the challenge. However, Ilia Topuria earlier called out Conor McGregor after his spectacular title win. The Spaniard has only aimed at the biggest names of combat sports upon the title win.

Fans react to Ilia Topuria’s callout of Canelo Alvarez

Ilia Topuria shocked the combat world with his performance in UFC 298. He knocked out the arguable featherweight legend Alexander Volkanovski to grab the UFC featherweight title. Soon, he disregarded a title defense with the 145lbs contenders and called for a matchup with Conor McGregor. He has shifted his interest to a crossover boxing bout with Canelo Alvarez. As such, he sent a call out to the boxing champion in a Spanish press meet.

Known for his boxing accolades, Canelo Alvarez is one of the biggest names in the boxing circuit. As such, a crossover bout with him would be a lucrative deal for Ilia Topuria. Further, ‘El Matador’ has exercised incredible boxing skills inside the octagon, making this an intriguing matchup. But what do the fans think about Topuria’s callout? Here are some interesting fan reactions:

Fight fans were very critical of Ilia Topuria calling out Canelo Alvarez. In general, they weren’t siding with the idea of UFC fighters crossovering to boxing. As such, they condemned Topuria for mimicking Conor McGregor’s route. Also, fans wanted ‘El Matador’ to defend his UFC title first.

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