Terence Crawford has been accused of rejecting the chance to take part in a two-fight deal that would have been worth 200 million dollars.
Crawford called time on his professional career last year after his monumental victory over Canelo Alvarez, becoming the undisputed super-middleweight world champion in the process.
That victory saw ‘Bud’ become a three-weight undisputed champion, along with a five-division world champion in total, making it clear why he is viewed as one of the greatest boxers in recent history.
Despite all of that success, it has now been claimed that Crawford turned down the opportunity to be involved in a mammoth two-fight deal that was extremely financially viable.
The man making the accusation is UFC superstar Conor McGregor, who revealed on The Ariel Helwani Show that ‘Bud’ wasn’t interested in a proposal from Saudi chief Turki Alalshikh, that would have seen a deal covering both a boxing and an MMA bout.
“I got on the phone, ‘What’s the craic, Terence? It’s the Mac Daddy. I got [Turki] here. We’ve got a big deal for you. It’s hundreds of millions, $200 million to be exact. Mixed martial arts against me and a boxing one against you.
“He said, ‘I don’t want to be kicked by you. No way.’ Whatever, that’s fine… I don’t know how as a man, or as a combatant, you couldn’t want to test yourself.”
Conor McGregor reveals there were discussions for a two-fight deal with Terence Crawford worth $200 million involving Turki Alalshikh, but says Crawford ultimately declined:
“I got on the phone, ‘What’s the craic, Terence? It’s the Mac Daddy. I got [Turki] here. We’ve got a big… pic.twitter.com/NpkkCblSG3
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) June 16, 2026
It perhaps comes as no surprise that Crawford wasn’t interested in stepping into the Octagon, having revealed that he has turned down various offers over the past year after deciding it was time to retire, including a lucrative rematch with Canelo.
Crossover bouts have been in fashion as of late, such as the recent battles between Oleksandr Usyk and Rico Verhoeven, along with Francis Ngannou facing both Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.
It even dates back to McGregor’s own venture into boxing in 2017 when he was stopped by Floyd Mayweather, but if ‘Bud’ was to ever return, fight fans would likely prefer to see him competing in his own sport against the elite names, rather than in a crossover contest.
