Canelo Dismisses Conor McGregor Callout, UFC Superstar Raises Stakes With Reply

Things appear to be heating up between the decorated boxer and former two-division UFC champion.

Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez delivered a confident response to Conor McGregor’s claim that he could defeat the boxing champion if the two met in the ring, and it didn't take long for “The Notorious” to fire back.

Never short on confidence, McGregor recently declared that a boxing match with Canelo would be “no f****** problem” while he and promotor Eddie Hearn were at a media scrum ahead of the fight between Katie Taylor and Chantelle Cameron. 

According to Michael Benson, the 32-year-old boxing champion doesn’t consider the former two-division UFC title holder to be much of a threat.

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Canelo Alvarez on Conor McGregor calling him out: "I'd beat him with one hand."

— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) May 25, 2023

“I’d beat him with one hand.”

While Canelo's response seemed largely dismissive of the idea of a fight between the two, McGregor was happy to take the opportunity to try and stir things up further while also pointing out which one of them has the more well-rounded fighting skillset.

“Canelo you little ginger sausage. I’d beat you with NO HANDS. Don’t forget.”

The "Notorious” famously entered the boxing ring to take on Floyd Mayweather in 2017, which was arguably the peak of McGregor’s stardom and influence on the combat sports world. That spectacle remains the only boxing match of the Irishman’s fighting career, but he’s repeatedly teased the idea of stepping back into the ring in the years since.

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There’s been talk of some other boxing and MMA crossovers recently with the back-and-forth involving Tyson Fury, Jon Jones and Dana White, but perhaps McGregor should focus on trying to get back into the Octagon for the first time in nearly two years before turning his attention to boxing. 

Combat sports fans will get the chance to see a lot more of McGregor when Season 31 of The Ultimate Fighter premiers next week, and the Irishman also recently claimed that his fight with opposing coach Michael Chandler will finally be announced at some point while the show is airing. 

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