If all it takes is just a single word to end months-long tension, then Ilia Topuria may have done exactly that. As he gears up for a title defense at the presidential residence, the Georgian-Spanish champion now believes it’s time the differences with Terence Crawford are put to rest.

“Congrats. Congrats. And listen, now he (Crawford)…now that he’s retired, congrats to him for an amazing career that he had,” he told Ariel Helwani. “He’s one of those boxers that I like to watch. I have learned many, many things from his style. So, I don’t want to even talk or challenge him because he’s retired. So, I wish him all the best – to him and his family, all the best.”

The UFC lightweight champion made the comments after Helwani brought up his earlier exchange with Crawford. The Canadian MMA journalist followed up, asking whether he believed Terence Crawford was truly retired.

“I don’t know,” Topuria responded. “He seems to be a serious guy. Like he seems to be the kind of person that says something and he backs it up…I think that he’s retired.”

To understand Ilia Topuria’s respect for Crawford, you have to go back to the night he shut down Canelo Alvarez’s long reign at super middleweight. Crawford dominated Alvarez across 12 rounds at a Netflix boxing event. Following that victory, he quickly became a target for callouts.

Topuria, meanwhile, had already aimed his attention at Crawford ahead of the Canelo fight.

Ilia Topuria vs. Terence Crawford: The moment it took over headlines

“I won’t talk about what would happen between me and Crawford in an octagon; I’ll talk about what would happen in a ring,” Topuria tweeted. ” ‘I put him to sleep in the first contact!!’

Crawford brushed off the comments without hesitation.

“That dude is drunk,” he said at the media day when a reporter pointed at Topuria’s comments. “You know, a lot of MMA guys drink a lot. So, he must have been on that alcohol that day.

Tensions escalated again when Crawford made his ring walk at Allegiant Stadium to “Canción del Mariachi,” the hit track from the movie “Desperado.” Topuria, who had been using the same theme for his Octagon walk-in, took it personally and fired back.

“First he calls drunk, then he walks out to MY song,” he wrote on X. “Crawford, whenever you want, I’ll teach you how to dance that mariachi in the ring. And Canelo, I’ll save you a round after him.”

When asked again on Helwani’s show, Crawford offered a blunt assessment of the situation.

“I definitely think he’s trying to clout-chase,” he said. “I definitely think he would get in the ring with me for the fight check. That’s what we all do it for, but at the same time, I don’t know what the f**k he’s doing. I don’t know what he’s thinking. I would—there isn’t even anything to talk about.”

Recalling their earlier meeting at the UFC Performance Institute, Crawford said Topuria had approached him and asked how he was doing. At the time, Crawford admitted he didn’t even know who Topuria was. Against that backdrop, seeing him call him out on social media came as a surprise.

From a business standpoint, he also felt that, given Topuria is nowhere near Conor McGregor’s star power, even a fight between them wouldn’t generate significant money.

Widely regarded as one of the UFC’s top strikers, Topuria has previously spoken about crossing over into boxing. However, in trying to break into boxing, he seemingly kicked the hornet’s nest. Now, with both fighters seemingly moving on, the episode appears to be behind them.