In the past month, a lot of mixed martial artists have been expressing their interest in crossover fights.
One of the biggest names in MMA who is willing to cross the bridge and test his might in boxing is Jorge Masvidal.
With three massive wins on his name this year, ‘Gamebred’ is looking for an even bigger challenge and a bigger paycheck for his next fight.
At UFC 244, the welterweight star punched his way to a technical knockout win against Nate Diaz to capture the ‘one and done’ ‘baddest motherf***er’ belt.
Masvidal’s most recent win could likely set him up to a title fight against the eventual winner of Kamaru Usman vs Colby Covington UFC 245 clash.
Aside from the title shot, the Miami, Florida native has also other things in mind.
This includes fighting Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez in the squared circle.
A Lot Of Money
In the UFC 244 post-event press conference, Masvidal called out the four-weight boxing champion, whose fight against Sergey Kovalev needed to be put on delay to give way for the BMF title bout.
“If Canelo wants to get his ass kicked, that’s a fight I’ll take,” he told the media, per MMA Fighting.
“I’m just here to get the biggest checks possible but Nate is in the future for a fact. We’re doing it next year or the year after that but it’s going to happen.”
‘Gamebred’ is not just confident the fight would be good for his bank account. He also believes he can destroy the Mexican.
“I can box. I can hit hard. I’ve got different angles. I’m not going to get tired in a 12 round boxing event, especially if I have time to prepare for it.”
“It’s just kind of fate. He’s fighting today, I’m fighting today. I heard we f*cking killed him on the pay-per-views.”
“I don’t know I’d like to break his face. Just fight, just test myself, make a lot of money for testing myself.”
“But I truly feel I could make it 1-1 MMA versus boxing.”
Not A Priority
It took some time before Alvarez responded to Masvidal’s challenge.
Speaking to Little Giant Boxing, the Mexican champ shot down a potential showdown with the welterweight star, either in boxing or MMA, saying crossover fights are not his priority.
“With all due respect, I always felt that I have nothing to do in an MMA cage.”
“I think the same if they get into a boxing ring. They have nothing to do. But from a business standpoint, yes it’s something attractive but it is not a challenge for me therefore it is not my priority.”
Canelo, though, said he has high respect for MMA fighters, even though they do the callouts because of money.
“There’s no other reason. Because of the money. Because of the money, because of the business. That’s the reality. What other reason would there be? They would’ve started boxing from a young age if they really liked it.”
“With all due respect to everyone, I respect what MMA fighters do in their sport.”
“They’re great fighters. But boxing is a different thing,” he ended.
(Featured Image Source: Instagram/ Jorge Masvidal and Canelo Alvarez)