Terence Crawford’s August 3rd bout against Israil Madrimov may have caused irreparable damage to his ambitions to fight Canelo Alvarez as Turki Alalshikh, chairman of the General Entertainment Authority (GEA), reveals to no longer have interest in making an Alvarez-Crawford fight. Instead, the Saudi official appears to be focusing on producing fights for Crawford pertaining to his current weight class of 154 lbs, as well as other fights concerning other well-known fighters in the sport of boxing.
Terence Crawford (41-0, 31 KO’s) extended his unbeaten record against Israil Madrimov on August 3rd but seems to have left the wrong impression after a close 12-round bout with the Uzbek fighter. While Crawford netted a unanimous decision (UD) win, his difficulties with Madrimov could have spurred Turki Alalshikh to change his mind on sponsoring a fight between Crawford and Canelo Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 KO’s) as he revealed in an official public statement.
“Just wrapped up an important meeting now with my team, planning for the upcoming fights that we will make for 2024-2025. I decided to disregard the Canelo fight, as I don’t want it anymore. Instead, I will be focusing on the US market with bigger fights, especially for the legend Crawford. “
“Additionally, I will support making fights for Boots, Haney, Shakur, Ortiz, Anderson, Benavidez, Zepeda and more. Regarding Tim Tszyu, there’s something unclear with the communications from his team with our team, so I believe I will reconsider his situation. For the rest of the world, definitely, I am focusing on Riyadh Season card, Wembley edition 21st of September (AJ vs. Dubois) and depending on the results of Riyadh Season’s opening card (Bivol vs. Beterbiev) on the 12th of October, I will build the card for the rematch of Fury vs. Usyk on the 21st of December and another big card in the first quarter of 2025. Stay tuned.”
Turki Alalshikh’s recent statements strongly contradict what he said during an interview with DAZN on August 3rd—when he attended the Crawford-Madrimov show—where he revealed Alvarez had been sent an offer to fight Crawford. Supposedly, this offer will now be rescinded as Alvarez has been likely deemed a step-up too much for the recently-crowned WBA super welterweight (154 lbs) champion, Terence Crawford.
This sentiment prominently had to do with Crawford’s match with Madrimov which saw both fighters deeply engaged in a chess match of sorts that turned out to be a highly competitive match. With Crawford’s debut at 154 lbs, albeit successful, not allowing him to net a show-stopping stoppage or knockout victory, it appears a perception has emerged that Crawford would face an uphill struggle against Canelo Alvarez, making their fight a mismatch rather than combative.
However, a recent interview that Canelo Alvarez held might be the cause for Alalshikh’s change of course, with the Mexican undisputed super middleweight (168 lbs) champion revealing after Crawford’s August 3rd match that he sought around $150 million to fight Crawford.
“$150 (million), 150 million,” Alvarez stated during a live interview with Sway’s Universe on August 5th when asked about the amount of money he wanted to face Crawford.
During the same interview, Alvarez had also stated he wished for $200 million to face former #1 168 lbs contender David Benavidez (29-0, 24 KO’s). Notably, Alvarez is currently poised to face Edgar Berlanga (22-0, 17 KO’s)—who has less of a pedigree and name in boxing than either Crawford or Benavidez—on September 14th this year but will likely not earn anywhere close to an astronomical amount facing the Puerto Rican contender.
Turki Alalshikh might have gotten wind of Alvarez’s demands which could have prompted him to change his opinion on an Alvarez-Crawford fight. As head of the GEA, which is responsible for organizing Riyadh Season, which is set to sponsor/organize its second show outside of Saudi Arabia, Alalshikh could deem Alvarez’s set price of $150 million too costly to entertain the fight any further.
While Alalshikh’s drift from the fight does not indicate Canelo Alvarez will not be approached for other fights in the future, Alvarez, often regarded as the “face of boxing”, has conspicuously remained absent from being spotted or linked to Alalshikh—unlike many other well-known fighters in the sport.
To date, Alvarez has yet to fight in any show sponsored or organized by GEA or through Riyadh Season, spelling what may be some resistance by Alvarez to engage with Alalshikh whose organized shows are known to be highly competitive—increasing the chances of Alvarez facing a fighter that could defeat him.
