Terence Crawford turned down crossover fight with Conor McGregor: ‘Sometimes it ain’t about the money’

Terence Crawford isn’t interested in a crossover fight with Conor McGregor.

Last week, during a livestream event with Duelbits, former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor touched on a number of topics in the combat sports world, including his thoughts on fellow UFC champions and his all-time GOAT list. But another topic McGregor addressed was his possible return to the boxing ring, suggesting that there was talk of a pair of crossover fights between himself and Crawford, sponsored by Turki Alalshikh and the General Entertainment Authority of Saudi Arabia.

“Crawford is very slick,” McGregor said. “He also has a wrestling pedigree. You know they’re always talking to me about belts. I’ve already boxed a boxer. You want [to get] a boxer to [fight] MMA [with] me. I’m the most [revenue] generating [star].

“So we’re talking back-and-forth, it’s like a two-fight deal. He rings up Crawford in front of me.. I said ‘Crawford, they’re talking to me here about you and me, a two-fight deal, MMA first, boxing second. I know you have an extensive background and balls the size of a Bengali tiger. They’re asking for a fight. It’s going to [be worth] hundreds of millions on the line. What’s up?’ And he goes, ‘I don’t want to take a kick.’ So you’ve got to respect that.”

And apparently, that actually happened, just like McGregor said.

On Tuesday, Crawford spoke with Bernie Tha Boxer, where he addressed McGregor’s claims, backing up what “Notorious” said and confirming that he has no interest in stepping in the cage with the former UFC champion.

“I told Conor, I said hell no!” Crawford said. “They called me and they offered me the fight. Me and Conor got on the phone and we start politicking, trying to figure something out, and I just told him, ‘I’m not getting in no f*cking octagon with you so you can be kicking me and elbowing me and shit.’

“He get to laughing and shit was like, ‘Man, I respect that, because you respect my sport just like I respect your sport. You understand that if you get in the octagon with me, you’re going to be at a disadvantage. Just like if I get in a boxing ring with you, I’m going to be at a disadvantage. But we would make a shit-ton of money!’ I said, yeah, sometimes it ain’t about the money. I can make money but you ain’t about to be kicking me, dude. Them kicks and elbows, that shit ain’t no joke.”

Crawford is one of the top pound-for-pound boxers in the world and one of only three men to hold undisputed titles in two weight classes in the four-belt era. Most recently, Crawford again moved up in weight, winning the WBA and WBO interim light middleweight titles with a win over Israil Madrimov back in August.