In a recent interview with ESPN’s Mike Coppinger, Turki Alalshikh finally shed light on the near collapse of the now-confirmed September 13 fight between Canelo Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KO’s) and Terence Crawford (41-0, 31 KO’s).
Before the eventual news of Alvarez’ four-fight deal with Riyadh Season, Coppinger had reported the Mexican champion had finalized a fight with Jake Paul which prompted Turki Alalshikh to cancel plans for a September bout against Crawford as initially reported by The Ring.
Coppinger’s own reports regarding a Alvarez-Paul had been thought to be heavily misinterpreted, with a prior report from Dan Rafael suggesting the two fighters’ teams had merely been discussing the fight rather than actually negotiating.
However, in Alalshikh’s interview with Coppinger himself this past weekend, it was revealed that there were actually legitimate talks between Alvarez and Paul which eventually led to the Saudi official stepping in.
“The story starts at London in the ceremony of The Ring,” Alalshikh told Coppinger.
“I met Canelo [Alvarez] there and we got to know each other, and we both discovered that the problem is the people in the middle. Then we decided to talk directly together.
“Then we had an agreement to have three fights between Riyadh Season and Canelo. It would start from September, him against the legend [Terence] Crawford―and I think this is perhaps the biggest fight in boxing in this time, and maybe forever. Then we planned on another fight between February until May [in 2026], and a third fight in September to October.
“And he [Alvarez] said to us, he doesn’t want to announce [the deal with Riyadh Season] until he announces and finishes the deal about the May fight. He wanted to fight in May [of this year], and he asked us if we are interested to have this fight.
“We said to him, it depends on who the May fight is against, but we said to him, please brother, please choose a great fight because we are building for the big fight. Him and Crawford accepted to fight in Saudi Arabia; the big fight, but we as Riyadh Season know how big this fight is, and how important it is, especially in America. For that, we prefer to do it in Vegas. This was the only condition.“
According to Turki Alalshikh, a deal between Alvarez and Crawford had already been made for a fight in September as part of a three-fight deal, but Alvarez thwarted an official announcement as he was seemingly pursuing a fight with Jake Paul in May.
“Then, in the last two weeks, we start to hear the rumors about this [Canelo-Paul] fight, and in the last 48 hours we heard it is closed―then it is not for our benefit because we are building the big fight against Crawford.” Alalshikh continued.
“I will be honest with you, I started giving the wrong information in the last 48 hours to everyone to make them [Canelo and Paul] go to another site. And when I knew of the big appointment between one big platform and the camp of the two fighters, and when there were people [Jake Paul] starting to do posters, choosing arena’s and choosing where the [press] conference will be, I called Canelo directly finished the deal in five minutes.
“I said to him, hello brother, you know this [Paul] fight will damage the picture and the idea about our plan, and honestly I think you are to young to take this fight. You can have it after 30 years when you are 60. Then he [Canelo] said to me, ‘from my inside I don’t want this fight ever, but I said to you take the May fight. I don’t have something on the table and I must fight Crawford’. And we discussed, and in five minutes we closed the deal. And that’s it.“
To put things into perspective, it appears Canelo Alvarez merely used Jake Paul as a negotiating tactic to create a better deal with Turki Alalshikh who would go on to make his opinion about Paul clear:
“In my opinion, in this age and time, we must have these kind of legends and fighters fight great and big fights, because you know he’s now in his mid-thirties [Alalshikh referring to either Canelo or Crawford]. We don’t want to waste time.
“I have advice for the platforms [Paul fights on]. They have the pound-for-pound YouTuber. I have good advice for them; let them bring Mr. Beast [a YouTube influencer] and we can sanction it [a fight between Paul and Mr. Beast] and we can sanction it with Disney for the build-up, and everyone will subscribe and see it. Everyone will see it, and the YouTuber belt.
“I don’t prefer to see this [Canelo-Paul] fight. If the legend [Canelo] accepts a great contract and a great fight, why do you say to him you are a slave now? I don’t understand it. He [Canelo] will fight Crawford, he will have a great fight in May―we are finishing it now, and he will have two great fights after that.“
Alalshikh’s low opinion of Jake Paul seems to be based on the American’s lack of ambition to pursue meaningful fights in boxing, with the 28-year old’s last fight having seen him fighting a 58-year old Mike Tyson rather than an active contender, fringe or otherwise. Furthermore, Paul’s own behavior on social media, which often depicts him being derogatory towards others, is clearly not respected by Turki Alalshikh as evident by the Saudi official questioning Paul’s latest barbs towards Alvarez for “ducking him” which included the American calling Alvarez a ‘owned slave’ for his four-fight deal with Riyadh Season.
Whether a Alvarez-Paul fight had truly been in the making is unclear, though this is certainly claimed by Jake Paul who is not the most reliable source of information, making it anyone’s guess as to how serious Alvarez’ attempts to fight the American truly were.
In any case, the intervention by Turki Alalshikh has paid off and set Alvarez up for at least four fights through Riyadh Season, which will include a bout against Terence Crawford.
As the General Entertainment Authority (GEA) chairman has made clear, his goal is to see more competitive fights in boxing and a Alvarez-Crawford seems to fit the bill perfectly as the two pound-for-pound fighters have both agreed to fight each other later this year.
