Former rivals Paul Williams and Sergio Martinez met for the first time since their two fights at the Atlantic City Boxing Hall of Fame last weekend.

The event, which is becoming one of boxing’s annual must-see attractions, saw the fighters reunite and embrace 15 years after Martinez defeated Williams by majority decision in his first fight, before the Argentine champion scored one of the best knockouts of the 2010s – if not always – to stop Williams in two rounds upon his 2010 return. Both fights took place at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

Williams had only two more competitions before he was confined to a wheelchair after a motorcycle accident.

The event was attended by fight fan Donovan Kasp. Kasp, a regular every year at the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, said one of the highlights was meeting Marvin Hagler’s son, James Hagler, and then taking a photo of Wonderful’s son hugging Hagler’s former rival Roberto Duran and his daughter.

“There were so many memorable things,” Kasp said of the weekend. “Spending time with Nate Campbell who broke my heart when he destroyed Kid Diamond, hanging out with Roberto Duran and stopping him from tasting one of the hottest sauces in the world during our group challenge! I joke with James Toney, but I also talk personally about both of our fathers dying at the same age of 65. I play the slot machine with Vito Antufermo, I drive Michael Spinks and his wife Flo in my car. I’m sharing lots of laughs with my boxing crew, making recent friends and making memories.”

This year, Mario Maldonado, Martinez, Sharmaba Mitchell, Mark Breland, Buster Douglas, Eva Jones-Juvenile, Gerry Cooney, Tyrone Frazier and Williams were drafted.

Special authors honored included Randy Gordan, Sampson Lewkowicz, Buddy McGirt, Bruce Blair, Eric Bottjer and Guy Gargan, posthumous members included Howard Davis Jnr, Judge Eddie Cotton and Jay Larkin, and pioneers included Eric Seelig, George Godfrey and Joey Giardello.

It was the eighth annual Atlantic City Boxing Hall of Fame, held at the Difficult Rock Hotel & Casino.

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.