The reported contract talks between Jake Paul and Canelo Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KO’s) have taken a twist as word has now gotten out there was never any fight agreement to begin with, much less an actual bout contract, despite vehement claims by Paul who claimed Alvarez had agreed to face him.
Boxing insider Rick Glaser, who cited sources that were apparently close to the inner workings of discussions between the two fighters’ teams, claimed that the deal fell apart due to Nakisa Bidarian’s―the CEO of Most Valuable Promotions (MVP), co-owned by Paul―attempts to renegotiate with Alvarez.
“Wow!!! Sources close to the now failed negotiation for Canelo-Jake Paul have confirmed the deal fell apart at the 11th hour due to MVP CEO Nakisa Bidarian attempting to renegotiate terms with Canelo, including financial split, [and] demanding other privileges from Boxing’s biggest Star Canelo,” Glaser said.
“Also, the document that Jake Paul posted on social media was not a fight agreement, it was a Confidentiality agreement. The next time Bidarian has an opportunity to do big business in Boxing, he should get the deal closed before Jake Paul starts celebrating.“
The first discussions for a Alvarez-Paul bout apparently fell through before General Entertainment Authority (GEA) chairman Turki Alalshikh interfered―as he admitted himself during a recent interview, which was followed up by a second attempt by Bidarian to renegotiate with Alvarez.
As Glaser reported, the deal collapsed entirely when Bidarian allegedly began renegotiating the terms already set while further reportedly making more demands from Alvarez, including a financial split, supposedly pay-per-view (PPV).
This suggests talks for a fight between Alvarez and Paul may have broken down prior to Alvarez’ signing with Alalshikh’s Riyadh Season, though on hindsight Alvarez’ partnership with Turki Alalshikh would have broken down these negotiations anyway given the nature of contractual agreements.
This further puts some perspective into Jake Paul’s X-rated rant towards Alvarez where he slammed the Mexican fighter for “ducking” him. If Glaser’s sources can be believed, it was Bidarian who was responsible for the collapse of the fight rather than Alvarez himself.
Furthermore, in the approximate one-minute video Paul had released, he had shown signatures from Alvarez for their alleged bout agreement, though this has been claimed to have been for a confidentiality agreement instead. This suggests Paul had either not been aware of what actually occurred within the negotiations, or was merely being disingenuous in an attempt to sway favor through public opinion.
Despite Alvarez having already moved on, with him expected to face WBA super welterweight (154 lbs) champion Terence Crawford (41-0, 31 KO’s) in a mega-fight come September, the fact he has been linked consistently with fighting Paul reveals how close the Mexican champion had been to facing an unranked, unproven fighter merely due to name recognition and the possibility of high earnings.
This is a rather surprising development given Alvarez himself had stated to only be interested in fighting Paul after retiring, but speculatively the discussions with Paul for a fight could also have been a ploy to negotiate better terms with Riyadh Season who he had also been negotiating with over the past couple of weeks.
In any case, it seems like it’s all water the bridge for Canelo Alvarez who will be expected to be facing actual ranked opponents and/or champions rather than Paul who despite being considered popular in boxing has yet to face any significant opponent that could catapult him into becoming considered a genuine world title, or even continental, contender.
