Boxing star Terence Crawford said he turned down a contract to fight UFC great Conor McGregor because he didn’t want to take part in a mixed martial arts fight.

In separate interviews, both Crawford and McGregor revealed that Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, offered them a two-fight contract, one in boxing and the other in MMA. McGregor said they would receive “hundreds of millions.”

But while McGregor was willing to compete in both sports, Crawford refused.

“They offered me this fight,” the four-division champion said in an interview with Bernie Tha Boxer. “Me and Conor called and started getting political to figure something out. Man, I’m not going into any fucking Octagon with you so you can kick and elbow me!”

McGregor, 36, is no stranger to crossover fights. In 2017, the former two-division UFC champion boxed Floyd Mayweather. McGregor lost by TKO in the 10th round, but reportedly earned over $100 million. The Las Vegas fight grossed $55.5 million live and sold 4.3 million pay-per-view buys, the second-most in boxing history.

The undefeated Crawford, 37, is arguably the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world and one of three boxers to have won all four major world titles simultaneously in two different weight classes.

However, Crawford has not competed in MMA, and although he has a background in wrestling, he said he would prefer to keep his fights in the boxing ring.

“He said, ‘I respect that,’” Crawford said of McGregor’s reaction to him turning down the fight. “You respect my sport as much as I respect your sport. You understand that if you entered the octagon with me, I would be at a disadvantage. Just like if I got into a boxing ring with you, I’d be at a disadvantage.'”

McGregor confirmed the story during a live broadcast with Duelbits.

“[I told Crawford] They are asking for a fight,” McGregor said. “There are hundreds of millions at stake. What’s up? He said, “I don’t want to take a kick.” You have to respect that.”

While McGregor said he held no ill will toward Crawford’s decision, he made sure to tell him what he left on the table.

“We would have made a lot of money,” Crawford said, referring to what McGregor told him.

McGregor is recovering from a toe injury that delayed his long-awaited return to the Octagon against Michael Chandler at UFC 303 in June. It is not known who his opponent will be when he ends his over four-year break in MMA.

Crawford will win a unanimous decision over Israil Madrimov in August. His goal was to fight Canelo Alvarez in a massive fight, but no agreement was reached for that fight.

Terence Crawford claims that Conor McGregor offered him a fight in the Octagon, but he turned it down.

He spoke to former UFC champion McGregor (36) on the phone and told him he wouldn’t do it because he didn’t want anyone to kick or elbow him. Crawford says McGregor tried to convince him to take the fight, telling him they could make “a ton of money,” but he wasn’t interested.

McGregor has not competed in MMA since 2021. He lost his last two fights in the Octagon and has not won a single match since 2020. According to Celebrity Net Worth, McGregor’s net worth is estimated at $200 million. He made a lot of money from his boxing match with Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2017, which attracted a total of 5.3 million PPV buys worldwide.

McGregor’s popularity has declined, but a match between them and Crawford would still be profitable thanks to both fighters’ fan bases.

The 37-year-old Crawford will win on August 3 after just 12 rounds by unanimous decision against WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov. He did not perform well in his debut at 154 against Madrimov, showing a combination of age, lack of power and ring rust. The only reason Crawford won the fight was because Madrimov passively fought the entire episode and allowed him to fight.

“They offered me the fight and me and Conor called on the phone. I just told him, ‘I’m not going into any octagon with you so you can kick me and elbow me,'” Terence Crawford told Bernie Tha Boxerrevealing that he was offered a fight against former UFC champion Conor McGregor.

This is another example of Crawford’s lack of ambition, as he would likely make more money fighting McGregor than in his next fight, which could be against WBC and WBO junior middleweight champion Sebastian Fundora.

“He just laughed and said, ‘Man, I respect that. But we would make a lot of money. Sometimes it’s not about the money. I can make money, but you don’t kick me, man,” Crawford said.

McGregor is a businessman who tries to raise fights with various fighters. Crawford would be no match for McGregor in the Octagon unless he was kicked or knocked down. When Crawford goes down, McGregor knows too many different submission techniques to get back up.

Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao is leading the way for fresh fighters to be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2025.

Ballots have been mailed to voters around the world, and the candidates will be announced in December in advance of the annual introductory weekend held June 5-8 in Canastota and the nearby Turning Stone Casino in upstate Modern York.

In addition to Pacquiao, the names of Shawn Porter, Lucian Bute and Mikey Garcia were added to the list in the Current category.

In the women’s category, Mexican Yessica Chavez and Canadian Jessica Rakoczy appear on the ballot for the first time, and in the “delayed era” senior ballot, Italian Bruno Arcari, a junior welterweight with a record of 70-2-1 (38 K0) and former junior, was added flyweight champion Luis Estaba from Venezuela.

The women’s trailblazers list included undefeated bantamweight Shirley Tucker, 16-0 (10 KOs), and English fighter Owen Swift was on the trailblazer ballot.

As non-participants, there is now a chance that veteran trainer/executioner Russ Anber will have his plaque on the museum wall, as well as referee Kenny Bayless and Italian promoter Salvatore Cherchi, while among the observer ranks is Argentine journalist Ernesto Cherquis Bialo joined in the paper Randy Gordon and Kevin Iole.