After Joaquin Buckley fired off comments about what he could do to Shakur Stevenson “in the streets,” Terence Crawford has now jumped online and dragged the conversation back to reality. This wasn’t about who wins in a cage or a ring. It was about how fast internet bravado turns ugly when fighters start talking about real-world violence. And when one of boxing’s most respected champions hears that kind of language, he doesn’t play along. He pushes back.

The spark came from Shakur Stevenson’s appearance on Adin Ross’ podcast, where the WBC lightweight champ argued that boxing and MMA aren’t “even close,” saying the “skill level is different.”  Joaquin Buckley didn’t take that lightly. The UFC welterweight unloaded on social media, accusing boxers of disrespecting MMA and calling Stevenson out for being cautious in his win over Teofimo Lopez.

Buckley went further, saying MMA is more entertaining and unpredictable. Then he crossed a line, “If we came outside where I am right now, I could kill you,” Buckley said, adding he wasn’t saying he wanted to, but that he “realistically” would.

That’s where Terence Crawford stepped in as he wrote on X, “Who’s even fighting in the streets anymore? Talking about who he can kill in the streets. He must of forgot they make switches for them kind of tough guys.” In another tweet, he added, “Yeah, I can see why he’s nowhere near the top. This guy clueless.”

But he wasn’t done just yet as he piled on with, “Yall mf is so slow these days. Internet f— up a lot of yall brains. Who ever the mma guy is was never talking about killing, or fighting me in the streets. He was talking about killing bro Shakur in the streets. But that wouldn’t happen either.”

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Crawford’s point wasn’t about who hits harder or who has more tools. It was about how outdated and dangerous the ‘street fight’ chest-thumping sounds in 2026. His point is simple: Posturing about killing someone doesn’t make you tougher. It just makes the conversation dumber.

There’s also context ‘New Mansa’ might not love. Shakur Stevenson is coming off a high-profile run where he added WBO and Ring titles to his WBC belt by beating Teofimo Lopez. Whether fans loved the style or not, that’s elite-level work. Buckley, meanwhile, hasn’t fought since losing a main event to former champion Kamaru Usman in June 2025.  That gap matters because it’s one thing to talk about entertainment value. It’s another to be out of the title picture in your own sport and go picking fights online.

Yet the boxing vs. MMA argument never really goes away. We’ve seen what happens when the sports cross over with James Toney vs. Randy Couture in the cage and Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor in the ring. The outcomes usually prove one simple truth: rule sets matter, and fantasy scenarios about ‘real fights’ don’t really take the conversation anywhere. But it’s not just boxers that have come under fire, as Joaquin Buckley also took aim at the current state of the UFC’s welterweight division!

Joaquin Buckley calls out Jack Della Maddalena as he unloads on the UFC welterweight division

Buckley didn’t stop at swiping at boxers. He turned that same blunt energy back on his own division and called out what he sees as a stalled welterweight picture, and he put names on it. Coming off a decision loss to Kamaru Usman that snapped his six-fight win streak, Buckley said he wants movement at 170 and pitched a matchup with Jack Della Maddalena.

“Me and JDM would be good money,” he said on Instagram, arguing the styles line up. It wasn’t about rankings, in his words, but about two guys who know what it’s like to get “held down for damn near five rounds.” He even jabbed at JDM’s loss to Islam Makhachev, saying they’d bring “fireworks” after both went through long, grinding fights.

Then Buckley went on a full roll call of the division and didn’t spare anyone, “You’ve got Islam out there playing Wrestleball. You’ve got Prates out there partying and clubbing. You’ve got Morales out there twerking and twirling. You’ve got JDM still at the house crying. You’ve got Leon missing again. You’ve got Belal trying to sell War Meals. You’ve got Ian Garry watching in the corner.”

The frustration behind the jokes is real. UFC 322 reshuffled the deck with Makhachev taking the belt, Morales and Prates scoring knockouts, and Garry beating Belal Muhammad a week later.

Ultimately, ‘New Mansa’s comments seemingly came from frustration, with boxers, with the welterweight logjam, with being stuck on the outside looking in. But when that frustration spills into “street fight” talk, it stops being banter and starts sounding reckless. Terence Crawford’s clapback cut through that noise. He didn’t argue rule sets or pound-for-pound lists. He basically said: this is dumb, outdated energy, and it doesn’t help your case.